A Visit to Britannia Royal Naval College
At Susan Rose China, we believe that the best partnerships are built on shared stories, a passion for heritage, and beautifully crafted products that help keep those stories alive.
It was a real pleasure to visit Britannia Royal Naval College recently and experience one of their excellent public tours. The College has an incredible history, and the tour offers a fascinating insight into the traditions, achievements, and people that have shaped one of Britain’s most iconic naval institutions. Whether you’re a history enthusiast or simply looking for an inspiring day out in Dartmouth, it’s an experience we would highly recommend.
Following the tour, our Sales Manager Liz had the opportunity to spend time with the team and discuss the latest developments at Susan Rose China. It’s always valuable to catch up, share ideas, and strengthen partnerships with organisations that are as passionate about preserving British heritage as we are.
One of the highlights of the visit was seeing our BRNC Mug Full of History and BRNC Bauble continuing to be enjoyed by so many visitors. There is something incredibly rewarding about knowing that people are taking home a lasting reminder of their visit—whether it’s a beautifully illustrated mug to enjoy every day or a commemorative bauble that can become part of a family’s Christmas traditions for years to come.
At Susan Rose China, we’re proud to design and produce commemorative giftware that celebrates Britain’s rich history and heritage. Working alongside prestigious organisations such as Britannia Royal Naval College allows us to create products that not only make wonderful keepsakes but also help tell the stories of the places they represent.
A heartfelt thank you to the Britannia Association for such a warm welcome and for taking the time to meet with Liz. We look forward to continuing our partnership and working together on exciting opportunities in the future.
If you’re planning a visit to Dartmouth, be sure to take one of the public tours of Britannia Royal Naval College and don’t forget to stop by the shop, where you’ll find our BRNC Mug Full of History and BRNC Bauble among the range of commemorative gifts available.
From Stoke-on-Trent to Henley: Creating Exclusive Keepsakes for the 2026 Regatta
We’re proud to continue our partnership with the Henley Regatta Shop, supplying exclusive retail merchandise for the 2026 Henley Regatta.
This year, Susan Rose China has created a commemorative mug and festive bauble, adding to the collection of keepsakes available to visitors and rowing enthusiasts alike. We’ve been delighted to work with the Regatta Shop since 2019, and it’s always a privilege to see our designs become part of such an iconic sporting event and its traditions.
A particular highlight this year was our Sales Manager, Liz, spending a day at the Regatta to experience the atmosphere first-hand. It was a fantastic opportunity to see our products on display, meet visitors, and gain valuable insight into the customer experience.
There’s nothing quite like the unique tradition and excitement of Henley!
If you visited Henley Regatta this year, did you stop by the Regatta Shop and stop our exclusive 2026 commemorative mug and bauble. Don’t worry if didn’t spot them. they’re still available through the Regatta’s online shop.https://shop.hrr.co.uk/product/bauble-deckchair/ https://shop.hrr.co.uk/product/mug-2026/
A huge thank you to the Henley Regatta Shop team for another wonderful year. We look forward to continuing our partnership and creating memorable souvenirs for years to come.
At Susan Rose China, we create bespoke English Bone China gifts for corporate clients, with every piece proudly made in Stoke-on-Trent using traditional craftsmanship.
If you’re looking to commission a truly unique corporate keepsake, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact Liz at lizmatravers@susanrosechina.co.uk.
#HenleyRegatta #RoyalRegatta #EnglishBoneChina #MadeInStokeOnTrent #CorporateGifts #BespokeGifts #BritishManufacturing #SusanRoseChina
What has happened to Susan Rose China during lockdown?
What has happened to Susan Rose China during lockdown?
Like so many small businesses we found ourselves at the edge of a precipice looking into the unknown.
As Charles is an NHS Doctor we were acutely aware, a week before the lockdown, there was going to be a huge problem with social distancing and keeping the workshop open.
Viv took her computer and decided to work from home which left the Mill office space unused.
We managed to bring our boys, their partners, computers & their work out of London to work from the newly emptied office workspace we had created at home.Computers installed, Wi-Fi working, 2 girls’ downstairs & one son upstairs in splendid isolation, everyone happy, job done, family safe and so it began.
One son in charge of food and cooking, one son in charge of chores (quite a lot of those in this house), future daughter-in-law in charge of granny, who lives next door & is self-isolating in her house and one almost daughter-in-law, in charge of baking.
It was agreed that the workshop would keep functioning until a lockdown was announced. Andy, his daughter Emily, Allen the printer & Liz the lithographer make up team “Stoke” which is all kept running under the watchful eye of Andy.
Everyone felt they were able to continue with social distancing but as our suppliers started to shut and our orders started to be postponed or delayed the decision was taken to shut the workshop.
So, with great sadness, Charles drove to Stoke for one last time and collected the final order of several hundred tiles for a local client.
We were able to leave these outside the Mill for 'click and collect', leaving Andy to lock up the workshop and head for home.
Suddenly we had little money coming in and outstanding bills, no one could pay us as we were all in the same position.
It was a sad day to know all 7 of us had worked so hard for this little business and we had become so much more than a team, we were in fact a little china family! It was agreed we would have a zoom meeting once a week between Northamptonshire and Stoke. Charles (when he wasn’t being an NHS doctor) and I would be left to run the business with the help of our accountant to sort out the financial side and we would keep everyone up to date with what was happening. So it began, a new life & a new way of working.
I knew my life work balance was very bad. Like many small business owners our business had grown bottom up from a successful hobby business. Charles and I spent every waking hour of every day working hard to make it viable. Almost everything else had fallen into second place even my design work. So, I looked at this as an opportunity to sort my life and the business out. We started with our social media because this was to all intents and purposes our only form of marketing. I have always been in charge of this, but it was a bit hit and miss depending on how much help I could afford with the wonderful Green Umbrella and how much time I was prepared to spend developing the marketing side, but to the cost of something else. We had a good look on the internet and found the social media tool SmarterQueue. It took me a week to sort out the platforms and the planning, but it was probably the best and most productive time I had spent in a long-time planning and improving traffic to our website. I also felt back in control. Success number one!
What next, what do people want from Susan Rose China? We offer an English product personalised manufactured in the UK and yet I had been too busy to update and deliver new design work and new ideas. This was my core strength and where I think I can deliver my skill to the business.
So, I started work re-designing & developing new ranges of English bone china for the children's section which was virtually non-existent on our new website. Several zoom and WhatsApp calls with Andy and listening to his suggestions when he wasn't doing home-schooling were much appreciated and eventually we felt we had come up with some good designs & made progress. Of course, none of these designs will be anything other than the paper they are printed on until we re-open the workshop. Like everything
nothing in this life is straightforward.
The next step is to fire a colour sample and then when Andy is satisfied, he will start the process of making samples. These will then be photographed for the website and lifestyle pictures made for social media posts. Finally, when all this is done, we have to “launch on the web-site”. This will mean 3 of us writing copy, sorting SKU codes & social media content.
For me, this is the second success, to have achieved the finished designs in this range is a massive personal achievement.
Our next hurdle was our printer, just before lockdown we had secured a very large corporate order. On the back of this we ordered and invested in a “posie printer” to help our larger silk screen printing for many of our corporate clients. Normally we send images of our designs to another highly specialised print maker who then makes an individual colour film for each layer of colour from my design work. This is highly skilled, as each separate film sheet produced makes a different layer of colour for the screens Allen produces. However, we had decided we could learn this process of ourselves. There’s nothing like a lockdown to make us determined and to learn a new skill. Success number two for Charles as the technician in the team.
What would be my goals, apart from the design work? What would be my new skill? Yes I have set myself the task of walking to the next village and back every day (round trip 3 1/2 miles) but I also needed to learn a new skill so this precious time at home with no disturbance, would enable me to add a new value to the business after lockdown. Then I saw it on Instagram, an online video course. I’d been talking about it for so long, thinking about it for years, never having the time to make it happen. So, with the help and encouragement from some very inspirational & creative women in Yorkshire, I did it. I signed up for Zanthe Berkeley online video course. This is my third personal success.
I do have a 4th aim but that is work in progress and will wait for another day & another blog, but lastly I strongly recommend anyone who has a creative business take time to look at The Enterprise Collective , which is run by some amazing, inspirational women. They are very active on Instagram particularly Drs Wife. Take a look at what you can achieve with a little determination. To quote my lovely almost daughter-in-law, to be remembered you need to be different. So at Susan Rose China we have every aspiration to achieve this.
