Worcester exported porcelain and a sauce nobody can copy
- Royal Worcester founded 1751
- Lea & Perrins, 1830s
- Left in a cellar for eighteen months
- Still made to a secret recipe
How Worcester grew
Two products that travelled much further than the city did.
Royal Worcester is founded
One of the longest-running porcelain manufacturers in the country.
Two products that left the county
Worcester produced two things that travelled far further than the city did. Royal Worcester, founded in 1751, was one of the longest-running porcelain manufacturers in the country. And in the 1830s two local chemists, John Lea and William Perrins, made a barrel of fermented sauce, disliked it, left it in the cellar and tried it again eighteen months later.
Worcestershire sauce is now on tables across the world, still made to a recipe the company keeps quiet, which makes it one of the more successful trade secrets in British history.
Both are lessons in the same thing: a small city can export something specific and become permanently associated with it, long after anyone remembers where it came from.
What that means if you trade in Worcester
Worcester is a small cathedral city serving a prosperous rural county, with Birmingham close enough to compete for larger jobs.
Local businesses win here on proximity and knowing the area, particularly given how much of the county is river valley and flood plain — a practical consideration that affects a surprising number of trades.
What Worcester businesses ask us for
Know the flood plain
The Severn floods regularly. A business that mentions it sounds like it has worked here.
City and county
Malvern, Droitwich, Pershore, Evesham. Say which you reach.
Local beats Birmingham
Proximity is the argument against a city firm. Lead with it.
A county town on the Severn
Worcester is a compact cathedral and county town serving a large rural county, with a university, a racecourse, and a river that floods often enough to be a genuine business consideration rather than a picturesque one.
The economy is services, retail, public sector and light manufacturing, with agriculture and food production across the county around it. Like most county towns of its size, it is the place people come to for anything a market town cannot supply.
The two things it is known for internationally — porcelain and the sauce — are a useful reminder for any small business here: a specific thing done well travels much further than the place it came from.
How Worcester businesses sell
On specifics. A county town market rewards being clearly the best at one thing over being vaguely capable at everything.
Trades and home services
Name the villages and state your radius. Also say whether you work in flood-affected areas — locally, that is a real question.
Shops, cafés and hospitality
Cathedral and riverside visitors, race days and market days. Real hours, and note the flood closures if they affect you.
Food and drink producers
A genuine county speciality. If you make something, lead with what it is and who stocks it.
Clinics, salons and studios
Online booking and published prices. A small market where people compare quickly.
Why FastSites works here
Both of Worcester’s famous exports are one specific thing, done properly, for a very long time. A single page that says exactly what you do is the same instinct.
Live in days, published price, built mobile-first. Tell us which parts of the county you cover.
How well do you know Worcester?
Five quick questions. Get all five right and you win a 10% off discount code for your website. Every answer is somewhere on this page, so have a read if you get stuck.
Worcester quiz · 1 of 5
When was Royal Worcester founded?
Common questions
The simplest one-page site starts at £15 a month, with the website build included and nothing to pay up front. Every plan and its price is published on the pricing page before you speak to anyone.
Sign-up takes about 3 minutes and the build questionnaire about 5. Most sites are then designed and built within 21 hours, and live within days of the brief being answered.
No setup fee and no hidden extras. Your monthly plan covers the website build and hosting. Done-for-you plans have a 12-month minimum term, then you can cancel any time from your dashboard.
Yes — you can upgrade at any time as your business grows, with no need to start over.