There were few expressions of surprise among Wedgwood’s stoical workforce – many had long foreseen the demise of the pottery industry that gave the region its name.

Brown heritage signs posted the way, as ever, to the manicured grounds surrounding the company’s neat mid-20th century factory but yesterday there were no visitors’ tours, only stern-faced security officials in fluorescent jackets.

Inside the administration block, management was breaking the news that Wedgwood and Royal Doulton, two of the world’s most famous pottery brands, had collapsed into receivership. Few of the 1,000 workers due back at work next week appear optimistic that administrators will find a buyer. Only last month it was announced that much of the mainstream production was being transferred to Indonesia, leaving only a small number of high-end products to be produced domestically. One worker said: “This has been brewing for ages.”

Outside, it was left to Tony Hammersley, 74, a long-term observer of the pottery industry, to reflect on the end of a trade that had once shrouded this part of the Midlands in thick smoke from brick-built bottle ovens.

“It is a sad day when you think it was all started by Josiah Wedgwood in the mid-18th century,” said Mr Hammersley, once a director of a ceramics manufacturer taken over by the Doultons. “It is the end of the industry.

“There is a feeling of sorrow because this was home to so many skilled employees. As Wedgwood took over all the local factories, they all came to work on this site. Now there will be nothing left because they have all closed and this is the end of the line. It is rather like Rolls-Royce closing its factory doors for ever”.

Stoke-on-Trent is a dour city. The road named after its most famous son, Sir Stanley Matthews, is typically an unattractive dual carriageway. Its economic experience has mirrored the history of Britain’s postwar manufacturing industry.

Martin Young, of the Unite union, is concerned that between 1,600 and 2,000 job losses in a depressed region will be catastrophic. “We have seen the demise over the last 30 years of much of the ceramic industry. We have seen the coalmines close and steel industry disappear. Unemployment is already higher than the national average. They are a very resilient and proud people and I am sure they will tough it out, but it is a huge blow.” Wedgwood should be celebrating its 250th anniversary; instead its staff will spend the new year looking for work.

Alison Wedgwood, who is married to a direct descendant of Josiah Wedgwood, asked the local newspaper how the company could contemplate abandoning the “skilled potters, the best designers”. She said: “Made in England has a huge cachet in Japan and China and India, South Korea and Malaysia – the middle classes in these overseas markets are buying a piece of English history, design and innovation and the biggest mistake the Irish owners made was to ignore this fact.”

The truth, said Mr Young, is that the industry has been steadily out-sourcing production to countries such as Indonesia, a process that accelerated when Royal Doulton was taken over by Waterford Wedgwood in 2005.

Another five businesses that could be left behind

Local newspapers The newspaper and magazine industry will be decimated in 2009, with one in ten print publications forced to slash publication, move online or close entirely, according to a report by Deloitte. Local newspapers in Britain are particularly at risk, with advertising revenues forecast to fall by 20 per cent this year, according to GroupM, a media and marketing forecaster. The average year-on-year drop among the UK’s 88 regional daily titles was 5.2 per cent last year.

Music industry Sales of recorded music fell by 14 per cent in 2007 after a fall of 10 per cent the year before. Figures for 2008, released this week, are expected to paint an even gloomier picture of an industry hard hit by online music piracy. The music business is now worth only 66 per cent of its value in 2001.

Photo processing The Photo Marketing Association, which represents film processing stores around the world, described the growth of digital cameras as a disaster. “We had 6,000 stores in the US and 2,000 in the UK and today we have fewer than 1,000,” he said. Last year the high street film processors Klick Photopoint and Max Spielmann went into administration, although their 314 stores were bought out later.

Tour operators Up to 85,000 holidaymakers were stranded abroad last September, right, when XL Leisure Group, the UK’s third-largest tour operator, went bust. The company was the 26th travel company to go under in less than a year, forced into administration by rising fuel costs and tough financial markets. High street travel agents have suffered as people increasingly book their holidays online.

Pubs More than 36 pubs now close every week, according to the British Beer and Pub Association. Two years ago only two pubs a month were closing, a spokesman said.

“Consumer spending has collapsed and there has been a squeeze on credit,” he said.

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