A Northumberland potter is set to scale up his business just months after launching, after winning a competition to sell his creations in a new tourist destination.
Keith Webster launched Ravn Clay Pottery on Ford and Etal Estates five months ago, topping a varied career as an award-winning cheesemaker, bookseller, primary school teacher and archaeologist.
Now Mr Webster is looking to scale up production after winning Ad Gefrin’s Creative Design Challenge, which will see his glazed pottery go on sale at the Northumberland distillery’s visitor centre when it opens later this year in Wooler.
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The Ad Gefrin whisky distillery and visitor centre owners joined forces with the Rural Design Centre Innovation Project to find local designers and makers to be showcased in the shop.
Following a Dragons’ Den style pitching contest by six shortlisted finalists, Mr Webster was chosen as overall winner for his glazed small pottery jug, ideal for watering whisky.
He said: “It is an enormous boost to my business. I view myself as a potter, though I have not received any formal training. This external validation to enrich the Ad Gefrin Experience is fantastic for me. It also changes how I see the future, and how my little business is going to go forward.”
“The next step for me now is scaling up of the business, which sounds crazy as I only launched five months ago! I started with the idea that everything has to have purpose, and my handle-less jug is stage one of what I hope is going to be a long-term relationship.”
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Runners up were Alice Elsworth of Bowsden-based Whistlebare, picked for her throws made from Cheviot sheep wool, and Joseph Hillier from Prudhoe, for his bronze jewellery.
Eileen Ferguson, co-founder of Ad Gefrin, said: “We chose Ravn Clay Pottery as the overall winner as we were all really impressed by Keith himself, the richness of the story he brought, and the thoughtfulness, appeal, and practicality of the product. We hope that this will be the beginning of a fruitful partnership, as there are clear opportunities for the usability of his pottery in the bistro and tasting room, as well as for retail in the shop.
The Creative Design Challenge has more than fulfilled expectations and this is far from the end.
“Discovering the strength and diversity of the creative businesses we have in Northumberland has been a revelation.
“Ad Gefrin will be a destination like no other and at every step we will celebrate the best of Northumberland, and the work of all these Artists does just that. We have formed strong relationships with all involved and we very much look forward to working with them.”
The Rural Design Centre Innovation Project ran workshops to help the applicants generate ideas, test different concepts, and then bring them to fruition.
Nick Devitt, senior design associate for the RDCIP, said: “This was an opportunity for Northumberland creative businesses to demonstrate their talent and they did big time. The quality of creativity and propositions was exceptional. We were all so inspired by the quality of the entries.
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“Congratulations to Keith, Alice and Joseph for their outstanding proposals, but also to everyone who joined us for the workshops and who went onto submit and those who were shortlisted. We are looking forward to running the next design challenge.”
The Rural Design Centre Innovation Project, part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and part-funded by the North of Tyne Combined Authority, provides business support to SMEs in the North of Tyne area.