Trade Secretary visits Burleigh Pottery in Stoke to see how trade deals are helping the business sell their products to the world

International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan visited Burleigh Pottery in Stoke-on-Trent today [May 12] to see first-hand how the Government’s trade deals are supporting businesses to sell their products across the world.

Established in 1851 in Burslem, Burleigh is a British luxury brand renowned for its manufacturing traditions. Burleigh’s iconic brand was sold in 82 countries last year, with a turnover of £2.5million.

Secretary Trevelyan met with Burleigh Managing Director Jim Norman to discuss export opportunities that the UK’s trade strategy is securing. The Department for International Trade has supported Burleigh since 2012, and the company now exports to the US, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea.

The visit followed the Prime Minister holding a cabinet meeting in Stoke-on-Trent earlier today to discuss how this week’s Queen’s Speech will deliver for people by boosting our economic growth, improve living standards and level up opportunities across the country.

International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said:

It is great to see British businesses exporting across the world thanks to our brilliant free trade agreements. Businesses who export are support higher paying jobs, and help grow the economy across the UK.

Seeing Burleigh succeed shows the high demand for quality British products, and I will continue to champion great British exporting success stories in every sector.

One of Burleigh’s biggest export markets is Japan, with a 60% growth in exports worth £250,000 in 2020. This is made possible by the UK’s free trade agreement with Japan, which was the UK’s first major trade deal as an independent trading nation and will increase with Japan by an estimated £15.7billion.

Businesses like Burleigh will also benefit from the removal of tariffs on 100% of UK goods exports from entry into force of the UK’s ground-breaking free trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand – the first trade deals negotiated from scratch by the UK as an independent trading nation.

Managing Director Jim Norman said:

Burleigh has exported to global markets since it’s inception in 1851 and we are keen to continue benefiting from free trade around the world.

It has been fantastic to show the Trade Secretary around our pottery today and to thank her and her Department for their support and advice that maintains and develops our long-established tradition of exporting.

Exporting is essential to the West Midlands, and in 2021, the region exported £25.5 billion worth of goods making it the 6th highest goods exporting region – this was 8% of UK goods exports in 2021. Exporting and export related industries support nearly 10% of all jobs in the West Midlands region, and DIT’s Export Academy, which was piloted in the Midlands has supported 1,311 businesses since its launch in December 2020.

Last year, DIT launched an ambitious new ‘Made in the UK, Sold to the World’ plan to help businesses across the UK double exports and sell their world-class products around the globe, such as Burleigh Potteries.