Ceramic tableware is an essential part of any home. Indeed, archaeologists rely on ‘shards’ or pottery fragments to establish the level of sophistication of past civilisations.  Ceramics reflect the art and lifestyle of the age. Over the past decade, time pressures, casual lifestyles and diversity of foods have contributed to an increase in the popularity of informal dining. It is indicative of Royal Doulton’s predominance in the marketplace that the company both absorbs and meets the changing lifestyles in their many markets, competing successfully for the consumers’ spend against foreign holidays, electronic goods, clothes and a vast array of leisure activities. The key markets worldwide for premium ceramic tableware and giftware are the UK and Continental Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and Australia. In total, the global market is estimated to be worth in excess of $3 billion. Royal Doulton is a market leader in ceramics, with around 40% share of the Australian branded classic tableware market and with a strong presence in the collectables and nurseryware markets. In recent years, Royal Doulton has had strong growth in the casual tableware and crystal markets.
	Royal Doulton plc is the world’s largest manufacturer and distributor in the premium ceramic tableware and giftware market.  Its brand names include Royal Crown Derby, Minton, Royal Albert, and of course, Royal Doulton itself. Each of these four brands enjoys a long association of Royal patronage and holds at least one Royal warrant. With almost 200 years of heritage, Royal Doulton is a thriving global organisation, with over $500 million annual turnover, employing around 6,000 people at its nine UK factories, one Indonesian factory and numerous distribution operations worldwide.  Half of all Royal Doulton’s sales are outside of the UK. Royal Doulton enjoys a leading position in the chinaware market. Around 40% of all English bone china and almost half of all the UK’s ceramic sculptures are produced by Royal Doulton. Due to the company’s reputation as a manufacturer of excellent quality and producer of distinctive, appealing designs, Royal Doulton has secured a high degree of customer loyalty.
	The Royal Doulton company began in 1815 when the company founder, John Doulton, began producing practical and decorative stoneware from a small pottery in Lambeth, London. His son, Henry Doulton, built up the business, moving it some 60 years later to Stoke-on-Trent. It was Sir Henry Doulton’s expertise and forward thinking that was responsible for modernising the Company and establishing Royal Doulton on the path that has led to its current international success. By 1901, the quality of the Doulton’s tableware had caught the eye of the King of England, Edward VII, who permitted Doulton to prefix the company name with “Royal” and awarded it the Royal Warrant. The company expanded its production facilities and by the 1930s was involved in the manufacture of figurines and giftware. Royal Doulton was the first china manufacturer to be awarded the Queen’s Award for Technological Achievement in 1966, for its contribution to china-manufacture. During the 1960s and 1970s, Royal Doulton discarded its drain pipe production interests and went on a spending spree, acquiring Minton, which had begun china production in 1793, and Webb Corbett, a manufacturer of crystal. Then, in 1972, Royal Doulton was bought by Pearson and merged with Allied English Potteries.  This move brought a number of key brands, including Royal Crown Derby and Royal Albert, noted for their excellence and heritage, into the Royal Doulton family. In 1993, Royal Doulton was demerged from Pearson and became an independent listed company. In 1996, Royal Doulton acquired Caithness Glass, a Scottish company renowned for its handmade glass paperweights and giftware. Royal Doulton has been available in Australia since the early 1800’s through agency agreements.  A wholly owned Royal Doulton subsidiary was established in Sydney in 1952.  The company imports product from the UK and Indonesia and is a relatively complex business due to its diverse area of distribution and high levels of inventory.  In 1998, the company sold in excess of 2.6 million units on the Australian market.
	Royal Doulton’s brands include Royal Doulton, Royal Albert, Royal Crown Derby, Minton and Caithness. Under the Royal Doulton brand the company provides a broad range of domestic tableware, manufactured in fine bone china and fine china as well as giftware and collectable figurines.  The Royal Doulton brand is also featured on an extensive range of crystal stemware and giftware. Targeting the junior members of the household, Royal Doulton also produces nurseryware including the well loved ‘Bunnykins’ range, the ‘Beatrix Potter’ range and ‘The Winnie the Pooh’ collection. Royal Doulton also provides the chinaware for hotel and airline customers. In Australia, Royal Doulton’s commercial division supplies customers such as Sydney Harbour Casino, State and Federal Parliament House and numerous hotel groups around Australia. Royal Albert, which traces its origins back to 1896, has become an internationally recognised brand with a distinctive style, offering domestic tableware, crystal and gift items. Royal Crown Derby is Royal Doulton’s oldest brand, dating from 1748.  The brand is most famous for its ‘Imari’ patterns, combining bold reds with cobalt blue and gold and the Royal Crown Derby range of paperweights have become highly prized collector’s items. Equally famous, and sharing a similar heritage since its inception in 1793, is Minton, featuring its most popular design “Haddon Hall,” which is particularly favoured in Japan.  Minton is also famous for its intricate gold designs and special commissions.
	Responding to lifestyle changes, Royal Doulton has increased its casual tableware product range. This range includes two fine china brands - Doulton Everyday and Expressions - offering lifestyle designs positioned at the lower end of the prestige tableware market.  Designed for everyday use, all products are dishwasher and microwave safe and can be used in the freezer and oven. The opening of a factory in Indonesia in 1997, as a joint venture with The Multifortuna Group, has given Royal Doulton the flexibility to respond more quickly to consumer needs and to supply product at a more competitive price point.   To broaden the appeal of the figure range, Royal Doulton has recently launched figures of Disney characters such as Snow White and Mickey Mouse, and has launched “The Classique Collection” a range of resin figures, with extraordinary detail, inspired by fashions of the early 20th century.       The crystal product offering has also been widened with the launch of Caithness handmade paperweight and giftware collections.
	Marketing the Royal Doulton brand employs a variety of promotional techniques including magazine and press advertising, a public relations program, in-store promotions and special events such as in-store visits by Michael Doulton, who is the company’s ambassador. International collectors’ clubs have been established for Royal Doulton, Royal Crown Derby and Caithness. In Australia, these clubs operate through selected stores and keep collectors informed of product (including exclusive pieces) and special events. Visitors to the UK are able to tour various Royal Doulton factories, and visitor centres have been recently opened at the Royal Doulton Nile Street factory and the Royal Crown Derby factory.
	As one of the oldest and best-recognised chinaware brands in the world, Royal Doulton has earned itself a reputation for excellence, quality and distinctiveness of design. Loved by collectors the world over, Royal Doulton has an international reach which belies its English roots. To maintain this leading position, Royal Doulton has continued to invest in its overseas marketing operations and has established high-tech production facilities. Royal Doulton combines the best in artistic design with flawless production skills to produce something both beautiful and practical.

ROYAL DOULTON
		A single Minton plate can cost over $10,000 and it will take one person three whole weeks to complete the raised paste decoration.
		The Royal Albert design “Old Country Roses” is the world’s most popular design with over 100 million pieces sold since its introduction in 1962.
		The largest and most expensive figure made by Royal Doulton takes more than 160 hours to hand-paint and costs over $25,000.
		Royal Doulton’s best-selling nurseryware range, ‘Bunnykins,’ was designed by a nun and has been in production for 60 years.
		Royal Doulton was the first china to enter space.  China plates were carried on the inaugural flight of the space shuttle ‘Discovery’ in 1984.
		There are Royal Doulton ceramics in a time capsule inserted into the base of Cleopatra’s Needle, on the Thames embankment, in London.