Unfortunately the Brameld family were more ceramic artists than businessmen: even though they were bailed out by the Earl they were regularly short of capital and struggled to make a profit. At this time it was relatively common for large but cash-strapped companies to pay their employees in IOU notes which would circulate in local economy as a form of cash: the Bramelds frequently resorted to issuing these. The Earl felt it was his duty as the local landowner to bail out the pottery to prevent the economic hardship that the collapse of the pottery would cause on his estate. Eventually in the face of mounting debts, and with a new less interested Earl in residence at Wentworth, no further financial support was extended and the bankrupt pottery closed in 1842.