From the early days, a culture of pride and involvement in Hornsea Pottery’s success evolved. This was a product of the personalities of the Rawson brothers as much as the increasing sales from the factory where employees frequently saw Colin in person, walking around the factory floor.

Very often, several members of one family would work at the Pottery where there was a genuine team spirit, especially in the early days when it was a struggle to get orders. There was a camaraderie that stemmed from each department on the production line relying on its neighbouring workers.

1979 saw the number of employees rise to 460, and by 1981, it peaked at 700, an incredible achievement for a small enterprise where the management had no previous knowledge or experience of the industry. But this state of affairs was not to last and between 1978 and 1982, profits plummeted.

A team from the National Westminster Bank was sent to review the management and appoint a new managing director and departmental heads. Early in 1982, they made the in-house appointment of Anthony Kusmirek. However, within 3 months, he and the deputy managing director were called back from a sales tour of America where they were promoting the new ranges of Romance, Desire and Passion. They received a vote of no confidence for by-passing the American agent and were dismissed by the board of directors. The National Westminster Bank then appointed Gordon Barker as managing director, nominating a new management team.