Jim Norman is Burgess & Leigh Ltd Managing Director and is this year celebrating 10 years with the company, this means Jim has the job of guiding this very special and historic company which includes both Burleigh Pottery and Poole Pottery. We decided to discover the inside story on running a pottery company by asking him a few questions?
Jim, 10 years with Burleigh, what has been the driving force behind staying with the company for this last decade?
There’s no simple answer to this because it’s changed over time. Initially it was probably professional curiosity because I could easily have taken a role with an FMCG business which would have been the easy option. What I found most exciting about this business was that it has a wonderful and absolutely genuine Unique Selling Point. This is a holy grail for anyone who has worked in marketing, and they are so often fabricated. Burleigh’s unique selling point is that it is the only business that still practices underglaze tissue transfer decoration. It’s a fantastic craft skill that we put at the heart of all of our communication.
I’ve enjoyed taking on progressively more responsibility over the ten years, it’s really tested me and forced me to change and develop how I tackle things. I have learnt the value of having a strong team with individual strengths and a shared purpose.
Describe a typical day for you?
One of the joys of the job is that ‘typical’ days don’t really happen. My role can include a wide range of things like monitoring how the business is performing with financial data and setting priorities for how we use our resources. I like every day to include time to think about how to make the business better. This might be developing an apprenticeship scheme with other ceramics companies or working with the team on improving how we use technology.
Was running a pottery company part of the plan?
When I was younger my ‘plan’ was to set up and run my own company. I can’t say that I ever really had a clear idea of what that company would be, but I’m pretty sure that it was going to be a tech business. I couldn’t be happier with where I am now though, there’s very little tech involved but I prefer people.
What is your favourite Burleigh pattern and why?
At home I have a mix of Blue and White Burleigh ware, which includes our core designs and some Ralph Lauren pieces. I love the variety of a mixed set because every day I use a different cereal bowl or plate and in a very small way that makes life more interesting.
How would you describe the Burleigh team?
Bloody brilliant! Before joining Burgess & Leigh I had mostly worked in offices. The character of a manufacturing site is completely different; people here are more open and honest. They are kinder and have more empathy. It sounds like a cliché but it’s more like a family than anywhere else I’ve worked. I’m proud to know everyone in the business, and I’ve shared a laugh or a tear with more than a few of them. I trust everyone I work with and that’s a very special thing to me.
We all know the pottery industry in the UK is much smaller than it was when Burleigh first started. What does the future hold for pottery making?
It’s hard to predict the future of the industry, but from what I’ve seen in recent years I would say that it has the people it needs to succeed. There’s a mood of determination, inventiveness and collaboration that makes me feel very positive.
All of the changes in the industry have left a group of UK businesses that each have fairly well-defined specialisms or niches. Burgess and Leigh is a great example of this and actually, we are incredibly well positioned to take advantage of a growing demand for prestige homewares. Burleigh is a brand with global distribution. Burleigh is a brand known for quality, exclusivity, strong brand identity, and focus on craftsmanship. Most of all Burleigh has the ability to evoke an emotional connection with customers.
If I take a bit of a philosophical view on it, I would say that the dramatic rise of AI around the world will quickly make people less trusting of digital content and digital communication. This will make anything that is definitively authentic considerably more popular. Craftsmanship could become the antithesis of AI.
What is your proudest achievement since joining the company?
The isn’t quite a ‘proudest achievement’ but a very proud memory was when I first saw a post on David Beckham’s Instagram page of him posing at Chiltern Firehouse with a Pink Asiatic Pheasants teacup and saucer. This must have been 8 or 9 years ago, but I remember it giving me a massive burst or pride and confidence in what we were doing. At the time we were battling a perception that Burleigh was an old fashioned brand, and there was the coolest man on the planet with Burleigh in his hands. No one had paid him to hold it or put the post on Instagram, it was all natural. That day I showed that picture to as many our production team as I could find because I wanted them to share the buzz that I had from seeing it. Nice one Becks.
Image courtesy of David Beckham.