How We Work: Bespoke, from the First Call to the Kiln

Six weeks passed between a first phone call from Co. Kildare and a 50% deposit on a full tableware order now in production in Vietnam. This is what happened in those six weeks. It is one example rather than a template — the shape of a project changes with what the client wants from us.

It Started With a Phone Call

The Glenroyal Hotel in Maynooth called us. They had asked ChatGPT for a supplier of premium handcrafted porcelain and stoneware, and Annamis came back as a recommendation. They needed new tableware for the hotel's venues, and they are also planning a second site in the Dublin Docklands, opening in 2027.

We sent the catalogue to the project manager and to the group's general manager. That is normally where a supplier relationship either starts or quietly ends.

The Price Objection Comes First

His first read was that Annamis looked super premium and the range would sit outside their budget. That is a reasonable assumption to make from photographs of handmade glazes.

So we priced the pieces they had actually chosen, rather than quoting the range in the abstract. Then we worked the numbers again and improved them. Once he could see real prices against a real selection, he decided to go ahead. Being flexible on pricing is not a concession we make at the end of a negotiation. It is how the conversation opens.

Bespoke Means the Range Comes to You

They asked for 50 different samples: 50 shapes, across multiple finishes and collections, covering all three food and drink venues. That is far beyond what most suppliers will ship on spec, and far beyond what a catalogue page can settle. We organised the whole set to travel directly from the workshops in Vietnam to the hotel.

A chef needs to hold the piece. Weight, rim, depth, the way a reactive glaze breaks over an edge — none of it reads on a screen. Put the range on a table in their own dining room and the selection makes itself.

Then We Come to You

Once the samples were in Maynooth, he asked whether we would come to Ireland and make the final selection together. I flew over myself. With the flights and the timing, I ended up staying two nights at the hotel, breakfast included, and they very kindly hosted us for dinner as well.

On the second morning we sat down with the project manager, the executive chef and one more member of the team, and they made the full selection. We had a second meeting afterwards to polish it — the small corrections that only surface once a chef has slept on a decision. The next day I left.

Quotation, Deposit, Kiln

We sent the quotation and the invoice. They paid the 50% deposit, and the goods went into production. They are due to arrive in mid-November.

Six weeks from the first call to a signed order, on a bespoke handmade range, for three venues. Volume hotelware can be faster. Nothing handmade is faster than this, and very little is this direct.

This Is One Example, Not a Template

Flying to Maynooth was right for the Glenroyal because that is what they asked for. It is not a script we run on every project.

Some clients would rather come to us, and see the samples in our warehouses in London or in Poland. Some projects never need a meeting at all. Queen Miami Beach is one of ours, and we have never met in person — the whole thing was arranged remotely, and it has been a pleasure to work on. Whichever way suits your team is the way we will do it.

If You Are Choosing Tableware Right Now

What we will do, on any project, without you having to ask twice:

• Ship you the pieces you want to see, from the workshop, to your kitchen.
• Price against your actual selection, and keep working on it until it fits your covers and your budget.
• Sit down with your chef for the final choice — at your place, at our warehouse in London or Poland, or over a screen if that is easier.
• Hold the specification so a second site — a new opening, another venue in the group — can match the first years later.

Bespoke is not a finish or a price band. It is a way of working, and it stays flexible at every stage.

Thank you to the team at the Glenroyal for the welcome, and for letting us tell it. The full story of that trip is here.