ME & MY MONEY: Great Pottery Throw Down star Keith Brymer Jones

The potter and ceramics designer Keith Brymer Jones once received ‘stupid’ money to make a pot of minced meat together with comedian Harry Hill.

Brymer Jones, star of The Great Pottery Throw Down, will never forget how greasy and disgusting that experience was.

The 57-year-old tells Donna Ferguson that he has bought a chapel in North Wales as a home and studio, but can’t move in until the pigeons that have been roosting there for ten years have left the house. His autobiography, Boy In A China Shop, is out now.

What did your parents teach you about money?

That money isn’t everything – so make sure you enjoy what you do for a living. I come from a fairly middle-class, suburban family. My father was a building trust manager, a job he hated, and my mother was a stay-at-home mom.

Money was not an issue. We went on vacation every year and bought a new car and decorated the house regularly.

But when I was in my late teens, the financial crash of the 1980s happened and things went a bit wrong for my parents. Interest rates went through the roof. They didn’t really know how to deal with it. Money became tight and my mother went back to work as a teacher.

Have you ever struggled with me and my money to make ends meet?

Yes, early 2000s. Throughout the 1990s I designed and produced ceramics for major retailers such as Habitat, Marks & Spencer and Laura Ashley. I was the only person who made handmade products for household retailers and they really loved it.

But in 2003, a retailer—I won’t name it—cancelled several large orders after I bought all the necessary supplies and equipment.

I was left high and dry, with all these materials and a very high VAT bill to pay. Besides, I had already started making some orders and couldn’t find anyone to sell them to.

It got very hard on me. I had to transfer my house to pay my bills.

I started having sleepless nights. I couldn’t stop thinking about money. I didn’t know how to get through each day. It was not good for my mental health.

To turn my fortunes around, I began to rethink how I worked. I realized that making handmade products for retail was no longer feasible. So I started producing work from the Far East for retailers, which allowed me to make more profit.

Have you ever been given ‘dumb’ money?

Yes, for making a comedy skit with Harry Hill. I was asked to throw a pot on the wheel – but from chopped, not from clay. I got a stupid hourly rate: about £250 an hour for an afternoon of my time.

We had to add all this fat to the mincemeat so that it would stick together. It was disgusting. But it was a lot of fun.

What was the best year of your financial life?

It was 1995. I threw thousands of pots at my wheel that year. The largest order was for 16,000 pieces of Habitat ceramics, which took me three months to do by hand. Margins were very good at the time. I made six figure sums that year.

What is the most expensive thing you bought for fun?

My Grenson boots. They are handmade British classics and I love them. They cost €560. I bought them in 2015 and still wear them.

What is your biggest money mistake?

Giving my house away to my ex-wife. I bought a house in Whitstable in Kent in 2000 for £78,500. I gave it to her about four years ago when it was worth £450,000. Our pensions and other assets were worth about the same. But a TV host I won’t name advised me to make her an offer she couldn’t refuse, to get a clean divorce, so I did.

The best money decision you’ve made?

Also giving away my house to my ex-wife. I remember the judge said, are you sure you want to do this? And I said yes, absolutely. It gave my son, who was 11 at the time, security – it meant he and my ex-wife didn’t have to move.

Divorces can be very messy and I still feel really good about what I did. It was my best and my worst financial decision.

Are you saving for retirement or investing on the stock market?

No. I used to save for retirement when I was in my early twenties, but now I think they are a complete scam. They let other people play with your money. Plus, I never see myself retiring.

I don’t have the time or inclination to study the stock market. Investing in stocks and shares, in my opinion, is basically legalized betting. It doesn’t wake me up with much enthusiasm.

Personally, I think property, gold and cash are the three things to put your money into.

Do you own real estate?

Yes, my partner and I have just bought a huge old chapel in North Wales to live and work in. It is approximately 9,500 square meters in size and currently houses pigeons – it has been empty for about ten years. We plan to do a lot of weird and wonderful things indoors once we renovate it, like growing trees indoors.

We are currently renting a two bedroom apartment in Margate but are planning to move to North Wales early next year.

What’s the one little luxury you treat yourself to?

An incredibly peated bottle of Laphroaig whiskey for £120. I buy one every six months. I have it with ice, which my partner Marge says is sacrilege.

What would you do first if you were chancellor?

I would tax the rich more by paying more income tax, and narrow the gap between rich and poor. There are people who work full time and still can’t make ends meet. The system is broken.

What is your top financial priority?

To renovate that chapel. It’s the next chapter in my life and I have to keep going.