Bond glass-maker quits role to save staff jobs
Cumbria CrystalThe boss of a company which made crystal glasses for James Bond films has stepped down to try and save staff jobs.
CEO at Ulverston-based Cumbria Crystal Chris Blade said the company had seen its monthly gas bill increase from about £8,000 to more than £40,000 since November 2024, because of rising energy costs.
Last year, cut crystal glass-making was added to the Heritage Crafts charity's list of critically endangered skills in the UK, with Blade warning "irreplaceable elements of our culture" could vanish forever.
He said he believed there were only eight cutters remaining in the UK, so "laying off staff is not really a route that can be chosen anymore".
He said it had been an "increasingly difficult" period since Cumbria Crystal's first energy increase in 2024, when it had to turn off one of its two big furnaces and lay off five members of its 25-strong workforce, following which production fell by about 40%.
This January, it "took the risk" of turning the furnace back on. But within the last month, Blade said energy prices "spiking massively" had forced it to switch the second furnace off again.
Fight to survive
Blade said he decided to step down from his role earlier than intended to release his salary to "try and keep the staff".
While the company now runs at 50% capacity, he said he had "some very good contracts" in the pipeline.
"But we do need to survive the current financial pressures," he said.
The Red List of Endangered Crafts was first created in 2017 to raise awareness of disappearing traditional skills in the UK.
Cut crystal glass-making was one of 12 new crafts, including quilting in a frame and making rattan furniture, added to the critically endangered category.
Blade said staff previously had their salaries or hours cut but were now all working their full hours again, adding staff should "not have to bear" short hours in the future.
