Denby Pottery is in talks with union leaders over the exact number of layoffs, a spokesman said. The firm employs 700 people at its offices, factories & shops across the UK, 500 working at the headquarters in Denby, Derbyshire. MD Garry Biggs said the "Financial & economic crisis" had resulted in a reduced demand for its pottery products. "The tableware market has been affected by the downturn in the retail trade, which is expected to continue for the remainder of 2009 & this unfortunately includes Denby tableware" he said. A spokeswoman for the firm said: "It is too early to tell the exact numbers. Talks are already under way, but we will not know the results until the end of this week or early next week." Geoff Bagnall, general secretary of the union Unity, said: "This union will make every effort to reduce those redundancies to an absolute minimum."
