Economy Stoke-on-Trent

the view festival park, site of national garden festival 1986.



terraced housing common feature in city.

stoke-on-trent world centre fine ceramics—a skilled design trade has existed in area since @ least 12th century. in late 1980s , 1990s stoke-on-trent hit hard general decline in british manufacturing sector. numerous factories, steelworks, collieries, , potteries closed, including renowned shelton bar steelworks. resulted in sharp rise in unemployment in high-skilled low-paid workforce.

the pottery firm wedgwood , subsidiary royal doulton based in nearby barlaston, although production takes place in firm s indonesian factory. portmeirion based in stoke town, , owns spode , royal worcester ceramics brands. ceramics firm emma bridgewater based in hanley; burleigh pottery in middleport; wade ceramics in etruria; moorcroft , royal stafford based in burslem; aynsley china in longton, , 1 of last remaining manufacturers of bone china in city. fine china manufacturer dudson have premises in hanley , burslem. churchill china have main factory in tunstall, while hotelware manufacturer steelite based in middleport @ former dunn bennett site.

about 9,000 firms based in city. amongst more notable bet365, founded local businessman , stoke city chairman peter coates; , phones4u, large retailer of mobile phones started john caudwell.

the michelin tyre company has complex in city houses commercial head office, training centre , truck tyre re-treading facility. sainsbury s supermarket , co-operative pharmacy have large warehouses in city. vodafone has large call centre on festival park , uk subsidisary of lubricant manufacturer fuchs petrolub has head office @ factory in hanley. there steel foundry owned goodwin steel castings ltd in joiner s square. premier foods make mr kipling slices , cherry bakewells in trent vale. co-operative travel had head office in burslem, before merged thomas cook in 2010.

stoke-on-trent city council city s largest single employer. major employer royal stoke university hospital, on 7,000 staff.

kpmg s competitive alternatives 2004 report declared stoke-on-trent cost-effective place set new uk business. city has advantage of offering affordable business property, while being surrounded belt of affluent areas such peak district, stone, south cheshire, , having excellent road links via a500 , nearby m6 , rail links.

tourism city kick-started national garden festival in 1986, , sustained many pottery factory-shops , tours, , improved canal network.

hanley, stoke-on-trent city centre.

the main shopping centre potteries shopping centre in hanley, has 561,000 sq ft (52,100 m) of retail space 87 units including debenhams anchor store, (formerly lewis s) , major stores next, new look, monsoon, gap, hmv, river island, h. samuel, la senza, superdrug, topshop, topman , burton. marks & spencer, bhs , t.k. maxx have stores in hanley. new shopping centre on site of hanley s former bus station due open in 2016, development has been delayed , project in doubt. other 5 towns of city have own smaller town centres. festival park large retail , business park in etruria, built on former garden festival site. there retail parks in tunstall, fenton , longton. new retail park being built in longton.

other notable business people city include reginald h. jones (chairman of general electric), venture capitalist jon moulton, , john madejski (chairman of reading f.c. , former owner of auto trader).

night-time industry has boomed in recent years, hanley becoming increasingly popular nightclubs, theatres, pubs, bars , restaurants.

in 2016, stoke-on-trent ranked second best city start business quality formations, based on number of factors including commercial property, energy, virtual offices, public transport , financial access.