Fife’s successful family co-operative Cairn Pottery can trace its roots back around 60 years and has a variety of customers from across the globe.
Crail Pottery was established in 1965 by the late Stephen and Carol Grieve.
Carol passed away in 2019, and is still sorely missed, as is Stephen who continued to work at the pottery until his death earlier in July.
Today, the venture is run by daughter Sarah, son Ben, his wife Jane and their son Tim.
Crail Pottery produces a range of stoneware, terracotta planters, raku and hand-painted earthenware.
Every piece is hand thrown on the wheel, decorated, glazed and fired in workshops in the historic fishing village.
Mugs are particularly popular with customers.
Crail Pottery’s history
Sarah explained to The Courier about Crail Pottery’s long history: “My dad had worked part time at a pottery in the Lake District in his holidays.
“That’s where he met Carol. She worked in a hotel. Stephen came to St Andrews University, but dropped out to start a pottery. Carol came up to visit him and they got the bus to Crail for a walk.
“Whilst there, they decided Crail would be a good place for their new business venture. I don’t think they really had a clue if it was a good place or not, they just fell in love with the village.
“They wrote to the town council asking if there were any suitable buildings and were shown our current premises. A derelict joiner’s workshop and an ancient crumbling fisherman’s cottage. They bought it for £250. A bargain.”
Set-up from a caravan
The pair then set up home in a caravan in the yard.
Together they renovated the buildings while Carol worked in a local hotel to pay the bills.
Stephen also taught himself to make pots and how to fire a kiln.
Sarah added: “Our pottery has since gone from strength to strength, with Ben and I joining in the 1990s. Now Ben’s wife Jane, son Tim and his daughter Emily work here as well.
“The thing we sell most is mugs. We make hundreds – probably thousands – of mugs every year. I guess everyone needs a mug and having a nice cuppa from a mug you bought on holiday is a nice thing to do.
“On any day, we get customers from all over the world. We’ve had friends visit remote Airbnbs in Australia and they find Crail Pottery in there. Over the years, we’ve had a few famous customers. Billy Connolly has one of our coffee sets.
“A typical customer is basically anyone. We appeal to everybody with a range of prices and products. We have regular local customers and lots of holidaymakers. There are a huge amount of Americans and lots of Europeans too.
“Fifteen people work here. Some of them are part time and some are visiting artists.”
Sarah said the onset of Covid meant Crail Pottery had to close to the public, but the venture was able to build up stock in that period.
“When we reopened, there was a big bounce-back, so we did okay. Business has been good ever since.
“The pottery is booming at the moment. Pottery has had a big resurgence in popularity – partly down to the Great Pottery Throw Down show on TV and also people taking up the craft during lockdown. We’ve never been busier. We expect 2024 to be a bumper year.”
Calls for more help for business
But Sarah said politicians and governments still need to look at the tax system for small businesses.
“An example is the cliff-edge VAT thresholds. These stifle business and put people off expanding and employing more people.”
She said the best part of her job is the friendly working environment and getting to live and work in a place like Crail.
“It’s nice to be creative and make a living from it. It’s always nice to meet the customers.
“The worst part is the paperwork, accounts and tax.”
Sarah admitted there were competitors to Crail Pottery.
But she went on: “Sometimes, if there’s more for people to see, it’s good for all the businesses. We also try to have the biggest and best stock of quality pieces. We stand out because we have three generations of the Grieve family working here.
“The secret of our success is good products, friendly service and being an interesting family business.
“Hopefully the pottery will continue to thrive and we’ll be able to produce more work to satisfy demand.”
Sarah said a big opportunity in the future would be for Crail Pottery to offer classes and education.
“We are looking into ways of doing that. We have acquired another studio off-site where this could take place.
“In five years’ time, hopefully the younger workers will have stepped up and taken over the reins from myself and Ben, with the oldies working part-time. Who knows? We will see.”
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