Obituary: ‘A movie-star smile and just enough of the rascal in him to thrive in the British ceramics trade’

Born Allan Garway Atkins, in Northern Ireland, Garry Atkins (1938-2026) – the name by which he became known and loved throughout the ceramics world – began his working life as an insurance broker, building collections of stamps and coins along the way.

But once he felt he had gone as far as he could in that world, he set his sights on a new one.