Thank you for another wonderful year!

All of us at Potclays would like to wish you a wonderful festive season!

We’ve been truly delighted to see the popularity of ceramics continue to grow this year, and we’re already looking forward to the new series of The Great Pottery Throw Down, which starts on 4 January. In 2026, Potclays will mark our 94th year of serving potters at home and overseas. Thank you for your continued support - we deeply appreciate you choosing Potclays as your supplier.

This year, we’ve invested heavily in our “Educlaytion” mission, and it has been a privilege and an honour to be involved in so many inspiring outreach projects. In particular, we’d like to recognise the incredible public engagement work of Duncan, Claire and the team at Clayground Collective, Amanda at Canterbury Festival, and James & Aphra at Redcar Palace. These wonderful organisations bring ceramics to the masses, reaching people who might otherwise never have the opportunity to experience the magic of clay.

In July, we also partnered with Kilncare to support Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College in the launch of their brand-new T Level Ceramics course. Alongside this, we’ve supported many other causes throughout the year — too many to mention individually — by donating thousands of kilos of Potclays clay. Our sincere thanks go to those special people who dedicate so much of their time to others and who truly understand the value of making clay accessible to all.

This year has also been a wonderfully multicultural one. We’ve welcomed visitors from the USA, Japan, Germany, Denmark, France, Belgium, New Zealand and Australia, to name just a few. James has conducted more factory tours in the past twelve months than Willy Wonka — and we expect his purple velvet blazer to arrive any day now.

In March, we were honoured to host a very special event to celebrate Geoffrey Swindell’s eightieth birthday. Geoff was tasked with throwing eighty pots in three days; a challenge he completed just in the nick of time. We welcomed friends and collectors, old and new, throughout the week, sharing stories and memories from Geoff’s long career. It was a fitting way to celebrate both a talented maker and a truly lovely man. Special thanks to Andy and Di McInnes for getting this event off the ground.

Our shows this year have been both enjoyable and successful, and we’d like to thank Matt at Potfest Scotland, Ammie at the brand new Clay at the Cut, and Rich & Anna at Art in Clay Farnham. We love getting out and about, meeting friends and customers, and making new connections — it’s a wonderful reminder of the community we’re so proud to be part of.

A very special thank you goes to our friends at Mayco for their unwavering support for yet another year. As one of Mayco’s longest-standing distributors (we first began selling their glazes back in the 1980s), we truly consider them family. Each autumn, they send the wonderful Todd to Potclays to host a (very oversubscribed!) week of workshops and demonstrations in the lead-up to our Open Day. Their commitment to education resonates deeply with us, and we’re grateful for their continued proactive and collaborative approach to our partnership.

Another special mention must go to Jon French and his fabulous cohort of students. Jon joined us at Potclays around 18 months ago, and his classes have gone from strength to strength. Despite recently adding extra sessions, he remains fully booked; a testament to his enthusiasm, skill and outstanding teaching ability. Jon’s students bring so much energy to Potclays, and the atmosphere here is more vibrant than ever thanks to them.

Finally, our biggest thanks go to our fantastic team, who have pulled together throughout the year to meet its unique challenges and provide our customers with the best possible service. Potclays simply wouldn’t be Potclays without them.

With our very best wishes,

Becky, James and all the team at Potclays

A note about delivery times…

We’re very aware of our extended order turnaround times this year, and we sincerely apologise for any inconvenience these may have caused. Behind the scenes, we’ve been working hard to improve our order picking, packing and despatch processes. One of the challenges has been managing increasingly frequent container shipments, particularly for US products such as Mayco and Amaco, which are necessary to meet rising demand but can cause short-term delays while backorders are cleared. We’re making good progress - thank you very much for your patience and understanding.

Our Charitable Christmas Donation 

For many years now, we have made a charitable donation in lieu of sending greetings cards. This year, our donation will be made to Crisis. Christmas can be an especially difficult and isolating time for people experiencing homelessness. Supporting Crisis at Christmas helps ensure people can access vital, year-round support — from finding safe accommodation to rebuilding independence and long-term stability. Donations made at this time help create lasting solutions, not just temporary relief.

Warm festive greetings from all of us!