Canny potter

THE FRIDAY INTERVIEW: John Maguire, Belleek Group managing director

ASK BELLEEK boss John Maguire how business is going and you’ll get a surprisingly frank answer.

Within minutes of sitting down to our interview, the 47-year-old Fermanagh man sums up how the business has developed since he joined the giftware company 20 years ago.

“The 1990s were fantastic years for us. We had huge growth, both through investment and acquisitions. We went from a €2 million turnover business to €25 million over a 20-year period. Around 2001 was a turning point – the combination of 9/11 and changing consumer demands was a challenge.”

The straight-talking, congenial Fermanagh man has spent his entire career with Belleek. Having graduated from Coleraine with an economics degree in 1986, he embarked on a management course in Belfast, which involved a six-month industry placement.

“Being from Fermanagh, I was sent to Belleek for the placement. I joined in 1987, and have pretty much been there ever since, working first in planning, purchasing and shipping, up through sales.”

Maguire leads a four-strong management team which has, by and large, been in place for 20 years. While many would view this as a negative, Maguire believes it has given the company a stability it badly needed.

The Belleek Group has had a chequered, if interesting, history. Founded in the 1850s by the village landowner who spotted the enterprise potential of local raw material, Belleek began exporting pottery to the bigger Commonwealth countries as early as 1865.

Various ownership structures followed. A group of local investors acquired the business in 1884.

Following pressure on fuel and exports during the two world wars and economic recessions, the North’s Industrial Development Board stepped in and invested in the company in the early 1980s. Various private ownerships followed, and in 1990, Dundalk native and US-based software millionaire George Moore bought the company.

Under Moore’s stewardship and Maguire’s management, the company expanded rapidly, acquiring Galway Crystal out of receivership, and Aynsley China in the UK, rapidly increasing its turnover.

Nonetheless, the last decade proved altogether more challenging. While the dramatic decline in US visitors to Ireland may have been one thing, the company’s ability to sustain its place in the domestic market was arguably a more worrying underlying development.

Had Belleek become a dated, traditional design, one that was losing touch with Celtic Tiger Ireland at the same time as brands such as Newbridge were gaining market share? Again Maguire is upfront.

“We acknowledged as far back as 2001 that the classic brand was becoming very traditional, that tastes had moved on. We identified the need to do something different, something more modern, based on sleek, contemporary designs.”

In 2003 the company launched Belleek Living, a contemporary range, which expanded to include cutlery and jewellery. The new brand “took off” says Maguire. “The Living range has seen 10 to 15 per cent growth year on year each year since its launch.”

Despite that success, Belleek’s more traditional products, known as Belleek classic, remain a core part of its business, he says, particularly in the US market.

He also defends the company’s decision to move into the crystal industry through the acquisition of Galway Crystal, despite the difficulties that have beset the indigenous crystal industry.

“What happened to Waterford Crystal reflected what was going on in the market generally. After 2001, it was a tough market. Like us, they too were heavily dependent on the US market. Tastes changed, from traditional, heavy-cut lead crystal, which was more expensive.

“In the context of moving to the Far East from a supply chain point of view, and downward pressure on price, they found themselves with huge costs. The crucial issue was to identify how the market was changing at the right time, and adapt.”

Nonetheless, Maguire regards the survival of the brand as promising for Waterford.

“I knew a lot of people who worked there. We certainly would like to see Waterford coming back strong, as I think that that would bring the whole industry back over time.”

While Belleek will not disclose a breakdown of turnover in terms of brand, overall annual sales at the company – including the two Belleek ranges, Galway Crystal and Aynsley China – now stands at about €22 million.

The all-island Irish market represents about 35 per cent of turnover, with sales in the US accounting for about the same. The remainder is spread across a number of regions. The privately-held company is profitable, says Maguire, though turnover and profits have taken a hit. Approximately 300 people are employed by Belleek, a number that has fallen by close to 50 per cent, mainly as a result of restructuring at Aynsley China in the UK. About 125 employees are based in the original manufacturing centre in Belleek, which is also the site of the Belleek visitor centre.

While the company does source from Asia, particularly for the newer Belleek Living range, Maguire says the trend of outsourcing is changing somewhat. “Costs in the Far East are going up, and there are longer lead times on orders as demand from the domestic market in China increases. What we’re also seeing is that, as in Europe, more and more people in Asia are looking for higher-end jobs. We’ve actually brought back some of the manufacturing for our Belleek Living brand to Belleek.”

Sustaining manufacturing activity in Ireland is crucial to the Belleek business, Maguire says. All of the classic Belleek range, which is heavily is marketed to US customers, is produced onsite in Belleek. “What we’re saying, to the US customer in particular, is: when you buy a piece of Belleek, you’re buying a piece of Ireland. The fact that it’s actually manufactured here is hugely important.”

About 150,000 people visit the visitor centre each year. “The peace process means more tour operators are coming in and it has also led to an increase in the number of visitors from the South.

“Tourism, particularly inbound tourism from the US, is for us a key issue, both in terms of marketing the brand through the visitor centre and increasing the sale of particularly our classic range to tourists who are visiting the country.”

Building the company’s US profile will be a priority over the next two to three years. Earlier this year Belleek announced a move from distributor-led marketing to direct selling in the US, with the opening of its own direct sales and distribution operation in Virginia. The company is presenting at its first trade show in Atlanta later this month under the Belleek brand.

“We’re looking to position ourselves at the premium end of the market. Our designers are working on a lot of new classic designs for the American market, which will be launched in New York in January – high-end, classic tableware, which is dishwasher, microwave-compatible, but all manufactured in Ireland.” Maguire himself travels to the US about six times a year.

Belleek’s contribution to the local economy and strong historic ties with the local community is something he evidently values. “The possibility of expanding the workforce is something that is definitely on the horizon.”

What about one of the county’s other main employers? “The Quinn Group has been fantastic for our county. It has been an amazing success story. If you look at the unemployment rates, Fermanagh has one of the lowest unemployment rates in Ireland, about 4 per cent.”

Maguire knows the Quinn family well and went to university with some of the company’s senior management. “It is sad, what happened. We all hope the company will prosper in the years ahead. Seán Quinn and his family have brought so much to the county, particularly through quality jobs, and raising the profile of Fermanagh in a very positive way.”

Local loyalties, it seems, lie deep.

ON THE RECORD

Name:John Maguire

Age:47

Position:Managing director of Belleek Group

Family: a Fermanagh native, he lives in Lisnarick, outside Enniskillen with wife Catherine and his four children

Hobbies: supporter of rugby and Gaelic sports.

Something that might surprise:There are about 7,000 official collectors of Belleek products around the world, with older Belleek pieces hot property in the antiques market.

Something that won't surprise:John Maguire has more than 100 pieces of Belleek at home.