‘We are only firing up the kilns when necessary’: Pottery business faces tough choices as energy costs soar

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‘This is like a snowball - we don’t know what size it is going to be,’ says Cristin O’Reilly, director of Shanagarry Potters

We have literally sat down and gone through what could we do, how can we do it better? The vital organs that need to be up and running are the shop and our production

Reducing staff hours would be a difficult choice because if staff are put on shorter working weeks, she believes it will be hard for them to return full time work when energy prices fall. Retaining staff hours and skills in such a business is critical, says Ms O’Reilly, especially the head potter Ron Barrett, whom she describes as their “main breadwinner”.

“If I do take someone off a five-day week and put them on a three-day week, I won’t get them back on a five-day week because it won’t be economically sound for them,” she said. “We had this issue over the last 10 or 11 years. If someone ends up working less hours, they will get their supplement from the dole and it won’t be worth their while to come back five days.

“We have literally sat down and gone through what could we do, how can we do it better? The vital organs that need to be up and running are the shop and our production,” Ms O’Reilly said.

 

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