Royal Crown Derby sold to Stoke ceramics company

Royal Crown Derby - one of the world's best-known makers of fine bone china - has been sold to a ceramics company from Stoke. The takeover by Steelite International is likely to secure the future of a brand which dates back to the mid-eighteenth century.

It comes after a lean period for the Derby firm in which many of the 200 staff have had to work a four-day week. The new owners say they have no plans to make any job cuts. Peter Bearne reports