Dankotuwa Porcelain recently shipped its first container of porcelain tableware to UK’s prestigious store John Lewis.
While the surface patterns for the two designs were developed by John Lewis designers, the finalised designs were a joint effort by Dankotuwa design department and the John Lewis designers and the team worked on it for about one year, Dankotuwa said in a statement.
 The designer also visited Dankotuwa and spent one week with the local design team and the factory to perfect the designs. John Lewis is a very prestigious retail chain established in 1864 with its first drapery shop on Oxford Street. Today the retail operations are run by the John Lewis partnership established in 1920 and includes Waitrose and Greenbee.
Dankotuwa said it has seen a gradual increase in demand in UK and Europe after experiencing a significant drop in demand in 2009 and the first half of 2010. “However, the response to the removal of the GSP+ concessions is still not clear. Several customers have demanded price reductions to compensate for the additional cost to the importer in view of the duty now being imposed. Sometimes the agent has been forced to bear this loss,” the company said.
According to Philip Harrison, the Chairman of Fairmont and Main, Dankotuwa agent in UK, “The loss of GSP+ is going to be painful in the next 12 months”. However, Dankotuwa’s approach of establishing very strong relationships with its foreign customers has paid off with several of them continuing their relationship for over a decade and some for over two decades. |
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