Thomas Wild and his son, Thomas C Wild, bought the Albert Works in Longstoke on Trent in 1896 ? built in 1846, it was named after Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria.

In 1897 Thomas Wild produced a range of commemorative pieces for Queen Victoria?s Diamond Jubilee, leading to them receiving the Royal Warrant. As a result of the Royal Warrant they renamed the company Royal Albert.

Due to a love of English cottage gardens, their floral style developed from chintz to art deco patterns. In 1962 they launched ?Old Country Roses?, which was based on an old pattern called ?Kings Ransom?; this is one of the best selling patterns and has sold more than 130 million pieces.

As the Royal Albert name was registered in 1906, in 2006 they celebrated their 100th anniversary by releasing the 100 years collection, celebrating all the patterns created over the previous century.