| Company type | Pottery Manufacturer and Leisure Park |
|---|---|
| Industry | Wholesale and retail pottery. |
| Founded | 1949 |
| Defunct | 2000 |
| Fate | Receivership |
| Headquarters | Hornsea, England |
Key people | Colin Rawson, Desmond Rawson, John Clappison |
| Products | Tableware and fancy goods. On site leisure services. |
Number of employees | Maximum 700 |
| Subsidiaries | Hornsea Pottery Leisure Park |
Hornsea Pottery was a business located in the coastal town of Hornsea in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They specialized in tableware with elegant contemporary designs.
The pottery was founded in 1949, in a small terraced house, by brothers Colin and Desmond Rawson with funding from local business man, Philip Clappison. The factory's earliest pieces were mostly designed by Colin Rawson. The products sold well and the pottery moved to larger premises and took on its first employee in 1950.
Expansion of the business in the 1950s brought moves to larger sites in Hornsea. A second factory in Lancaster opened in 1974. In 1984, the company struggled and was bought out. Despite its difficulties, the factory continued to produce tableware and ornaments until April 2000 when it went into receivership.
As part of the asset sales during receivership the design rights to the successful Taunton range of table wares was acquired by Poole Pottery. The remainder of the designs, patterns and Intellectual Property rights were sold to Mainscore Ltd and are now owned by Hornsea Potteries Intellectual Properties USA LLC.[citation needed]
In 2008, Hornsea Museum opened a permanent exhibition of Hornsea Pottery.
The V & A in London has numerous Hornsea Pottery items in its permanent collection.