Coronation: £1m windfall for ceramics giant Halcyon Days as Brits buy King Charles plates and tea cups
The chief executive of one of the UK’s biggest makers of luxury ceramics has said that Brits should not “underestimate” the value of the Royal Family, as it prepares to rack in a million pounds in sales from Coronation themed tea cups and plates.
Pamela Harper, head of the Halcyon Days, a pre-eminent supplier of homewares and jewellery to royal households told City A.M that the monarchy is an “enormous” and “very important draw” to London and the wider UK.
“You’ve only got to look at when you walk the streets and see the numbers of foreign tourists who are here to share in and enjoy the pageantry that we do so well,” Harper said speaking ahead of King Charles coronation this weekend, which will welcome millions of visitors to the capital.
Halcyon has made an additional 150,000 products for the Coronation and has increased its workforce by 20 per cent since January to supply the demand from patriotic Brits and international fans looking to buy luxury memorabilia to commemorate the event.
Over the last three weeks Harper said the business has seen a “big uplift” in sales of its collection of wares which range from £850 to £45.
The business is one of many across London benefitting from the historic event, with retailers and pubs across London’s West-End also expecting a much needed £50m boost in trade in the wake of soaring energy prices and a hike in living costs.
However, looking past the coronation Harper said that a return to VAT free shopping for international tourists, which was scrapped last year by the government, would “inevitably” get the economy on a roll again.
Harper explained: “[VAT free shopping] has always been such an important factor for a lot of tourists, whether they’re Asian or American, coming in and knowing that they will get refunded on their purchasing.”
“We also need to think about the wider London economy…because these people shopping in London, whether that’s luxury goods or goods in general are also spending in our taxis and in our hotels, cafes, coffee shops, and I don’t think we should should minimise that because it’s very important,” she added.
