Poole Pottery appoints design head

Poole Pottery has appointed former Wedgwood designer Charlotte Whitfield as design manager, and confirms it is looking for a marketing director.

Whitfield joins on 22 July and was headhunted by Poole’s external design director Frances Sorrell, who is overseeing a rebrand and new direction for the 130-year-old pottery. Sorrell says Whitfield’s role will be to provide a link between ideas developed by the design team and the manufacturing process. She will also build an in-house design team, says Poole Pottery chief executive Chris Rhodes.

‘It’s vital we have an internal manager who can design as well as interpret other designers’ work in the Poole language,’ Rhodes says. ‘Her ceramics experience is invaluable, too,’ he adds.

The marketing director role is currently being filled by Rhodes, but he is keen to appoint someone as soon as possible.

Sorrell recently presided over the appointments of Ben Kelly to redesign the group’s shop on Poole Quay, unveiled last week, and Vince Frost, who revamped the Poole identity (DW 8 March).

The shop incorporates slightly rough-and-ready display units inspired by the storage boxes used in the factory. They incorporate casters so they can be easily moved around the space, Rhodes says.

Frost has revived Poole’s 50 year-old dolphin marque as part of the identity.