Signet Jewellers swings to loss in Q2

Signet Jewellers, the parent company of H.Samuel and Ernest Jones, swung to a loss of $81.7m (£62m) in its second quarter of trading, down from a loss of $36.1 (£27.4m) the year before.  Total sales also fell by 34.9% to $888m (£623m) in the quarter ended August 1, 2020. Meanwhile,…

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Hublot partners with Soccer Aid for Unicef 2020

Hublot will partner with Soccer Aid for Unicef, the world’s biggest charity football live event, for its 2020 match that is set to take place this week.  Soccer Aid for Unicef, which was created as a way of raising money for at risk children around the world, has raised over…

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GemGenève cancels November show

GemGenève has announced the decision to cancel its November 2020 show “after careful consideration”.  It comes as its organisers said the current pandemic, travel restrictions and increased sanitary precautions make it “impossible for GemGenève to be the interactive experience that we intend it to be”. In a “show of understanding…

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Building platinum jewellery sales in a post-pandemic world

The COVID-19 crisis has profoundly affected the fine jewellery market in 2020, but recovery is already underway. While it is too soon to say when the industry will fully recover, there is no question that consumers are willing to make fine jewellery purchases post pandemic, and fine jewellery buyers tend…

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Retail vacancy rate reaches six-year high

Retail shop vacancies have reached a six-year high due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, according to new research from Springboard. The research found the UK vacancy rate rose to 10.8% in July up from 9.8% in January, which means it is now at the highest level since January…

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Leicestershire police launch appeal after jewellery store robbery

Officers are appealing for witnesses after jewellery was stolen from a local jewellers in Market Harborough. A local report from the Harborough Mail has named the shop as high street business County Jewellers.  According to Leicestershire police, the robbery happened shortly before 1.30am yesterday (1 September) at the premises. It…

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Yummikeys launches Ultrasound Necklace

Eco-friendly baby brand, Yummikeys, has announced its first ever adult-only jewellery design, the Ultrasound Necklace.  The piece is designed with “mum in mind”, with each necklace produced engraved with a personal ultrasound image, with the idea of producing a “cherished keepsake” for customers. According to the group, the “carefully” designed…

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HMRC and Covid-19: One hand giveth, the other taketh away

One hand giveth HMRC was responsible for overseeing and implementing the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (“CJRS”) and other furlough schemes. Its ensuring that monies were paid under the Government’s various furlough support schemes has been impressive. Although the guidance on who was entitled to monies under the CJRS was…

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SMEs ‘plagued’ by late payments

UK freelancers and small business owners continue to be plagued by the problem of late payment, according to new research by cloud accounting software company Freeagent. Analysis of over two million invoices sent by FreeAgent customers between January 2019 and June 2020 has revealed the “startling impact” of late payment…

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Tiffany sales begin to recover

Tiffany and Co has reported its financial results for the three months and half-year ended July 31, 2020. The group began to return to profitability during the second quarter of 2020 following “meaningful sequential improvements” in monthly worldwide net sales from May to July. In light of this, worldwide net…

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