A New Beginning for Waterford Crystal as New Manufacturing Facility, Visitor Centre and Retail Outlet Opens in the Heart of Waterford

Waterford, Ireland, June 22, 2010 (ots/PRNewswire) - A new beginning for
Waterford Crystal is marked today with the official opening of the
House of Waterford Crystal on the Mall in the heart of Waterford
City. The new facility, which comprises manufacturing facility,
visitor centre and retail outlet, ensures that the combined history
of over 600 years of heritage, tradition and craftsmanship, remains
firmly rooted in Waterford. This milestone event is the result of an
agreement between WWRD Holdings Limited ("WWRD"), the leading luxury
goods group which owns and operates the Waterford Crystal, Wedgwood
and Royal Doulton brands and Waterford City Council.

The House of Waterford Crystal will employ 79 full-time and 33
part-time staff, with a further 30-40 temporary staff during peak
season, and will annually produce around 40,000 hand crafted high end
pieces using traditional methods. It will also act as a central
laboratory for Waterford Crystal's designers to ensure that all of
the brand's products have an enduring connection with Waterford's
unrivalled tradition of craftsmanship and design.

The manufacturing facility contains a brand new continuous melt
tank furnace that has been tailor-made for Waterford Crystal's
specifications, and will produce two tonnes of molten crystal every
day. It uses leading edge technology to deliver molten crystal of the
highest quality for skilled master blowers to hand-shape and
hand-blow Waterford Crystal's range of premium products. All aspects
of the manufacturing process will be fully accessible to visitors,
who will learn about both historical and contemporary production
techniques through direct interaction with the craftsmen and from
audiovisual materials. In addition, the onsite retail centre will
represent the largest display of Waterford Crystal anywhere in the
world.

Pierre de Villemejane, CEO of WWRD, said: "Today represents the
culmination of a huge amount of hard work on the part of WWRD, its
owners - KPS Capital Partners - and Waterford City Council to get
this project off the ground. We are extremely proud of the House of
Waterford Crystal, and its commitment to quality, heritage and
cutting-edge design represents everything that this brand stands for.
We look forward to welcoming visitors from all over the world to our
new centre, and to continuing the city of Waterford's extraordinary
tradition of producing crystal of the very highest quality."

Further information:

UK and international media:
Powerscourt:
Rob Greening / Lisa Kavanagh
+44-7809-698-259 or +44-7872-604-889
Irish media:
Weber Shandwick:
Norman Pratt / Mary McCarthy
+353-86-151-8921 or +353-86-2568-429

ots Originaltext: Waterford Crystal
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
CONTACT: UK and international media: Powerscourt: Rob Greening /
LisaKavanagh - +44-7809-698-259 or+44-7872-604-889; Irish media:
Weber Shandwick: Norman Pratt / MaryMcCarthy - +353-86-151-8921 or
+353-86-2568-429