The administrators of the Wedgwood Museum are in discussions to keep the pottery collection in situ following a high court ruling that objects can be sold off to plug the company’s £134m pension deficit.
The Stoke-on-Trent museum was put into administration in 2010 after Waterford Wedgwood Potteries collapsed and its £134m pension debt was transferred to the museum.
Bob Young and Steve Currie from Begbies Traynor, the joint administrators of the Wedgwood Museum Trust, made an application to the high court to determine whether the collection, estimated to be worth up to £18m, could be considered an asset and therefore sold to pay off creditors.
Following a three-day hearing in September, the high court ruled last month that the collection could be considered an asset of Waterford Wedgwood Potteries.
As such, the administrators have now been given the go-ahead to dispose of the collection to help pay off the deficit. Young said they had held discussions with the Heritage Lottery Fund, Victoria and Albert Museum, members of the Wedgwood family and other potential benefactors about raising funds to keep the collection at the museum.
“We will spend the next few months in intensive discussions with potential benefactors and the museum trustees to try to come up with a proposal that is acceptable to creditors,” said Young. As Museums Journal went to press, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport was holding emergency talks with the museum to try to avert the sale of the collection.
Maurice Davies, head of communication and policy at the Museums Association, said: “It is the government’s responsibility to stop the collection from being sold – through legislation or by putting its hand in its pocket.”
The Stoke-on-Trent museum was put into administration in 2010 after Waterford Wedgwood Potteries collapsed and its £134m pension debt was transferred to the museum.
Bob Young and Steve Currie from Begbies Traynor, the joint administrators of the Wedgwood Museum Trust, made an application to the high court to determine whether the collection, estimated to be worth up to £18m, could be considered an asset and therefore sold to pay off creditors.
Following a three-day hearing in September, the high court ruled last month that the collection could be considered an asset of Waterford Wedgwood Potteries.
As such, the administrators have now been given the go-ahead to dispose of the collection to help pay off the deficit. Young said they had held discussions with the Heritage Lottery Fund, Victoria and Albert Museum, members of the Wedgwood family and other potential benefactors about raising funds to keep the collection at the museum.
“We will spend the next few months in intensive discussions with potential benefactors and the museum trustees to try to come up with a proposal that is acceptable to creditors,” said Young. As Museums Journal went to press, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport was holding emergency talks with the museum to try to avert the sale of the collection.
Maurice Davies, head of communication and policy at the Museums Association, said: “It is the government’s responsibility to stop the collection from being sold – through legislation or by putting its hand in its pocket.”