Royal Grafton Fine Bone China -
A Potted History
Royal Grafton Fine Bone China - Founded c1900 Staffordshire, England by Alfred Jones. Some Staffordshire potteries thrived and other Stoke-on-Trent makers went to the wall. What made the difference? Read on below to find out ....
A.B. Jones & Sons Ltd used the trade name: "Grafton" or later "Royal Grafton". I have not heard of any warrant which would justify use of the ‘Royal’ epithet.For me this brand is important in that it teaches you how not to go about developing a brand name. At one time they were a major employer in Stoke, with whole families working for them. They had good technical people working for them (Branscombe), and you can find lots of quality bone china Grafton on the secondary market. However, they lacked initiative on the design front. Their only thought was to put a 'Royal' tag on the name and hope that would elevate them sufficiently. In business you have to keep it real. They should have invested in design and product development and somehow made a genuine name for themselves. Chasing their tale and lacking vision, they finally petered out with a whimper. Grafton ceased trading in 1972. The trade name went on to become part of the Tams China group (est 1874) which also recently failed resulting in the sale of the 90 million unit capacity per year modern industrial unit in Longton Staffs, going up for sale in January 2007. Bone china manufacturing is a tough business alright!
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