Budget 2017: Government unveils £300m business rate relief fund

The government has helped soften the blow of April’s business rate revaluation with a £300m relief fund for local councils. The announcement was made by chancellor Philip Hammond at today’s Spring Budget, in which he said business rates raise £25bn each year – all of which, by 2020, will be…

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Alyssa Smith Jewellery named Hertfordshire’s ‘best retailer’

Jewellery design firm Alyssa Smith Jewellery has been named the ‘Best Retailer of the Year’ at Hertfordshire’s Biz4Biz awards. A total of 12 awards were presented at the event hosted by Tewin Bury Farm Hotel in Hertfordshire, with the awards aiming to showcase the best of business in the country.…

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Non-food retail sales record first quarterly decline in six years

Non-food retail sales fell in the three months to February 2017, making it the first quarterly decline for the category since November 2011. The latest Retail Sales Monitor from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG found non-food retail sales fell 0.4% on a like-for-like basis and 0.2% on a…

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Asquiths Jewellers in York set to close after 24 years

Asquiths Jewellers on Goodramgate in York is set to close in April due to falling footfall and an increase in rent. The store, which also has a Darlington branch that is not set to close, has been trading in the city for 24 years but will not be renewing its…

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De Beers starts production at world’s largest new diamond mine

Gahcho Kué, the world’s largest new diamond mine in the last 13 years, has officially begun commercial production. The mine, a joint venture with De Beers Group (51%) and Mountain Province Diamonds (49%), is expected to produce approximately 54 million carats of rough diamonds over its lifetime. Production ramp up…

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Earliest example of Iron Age gold jewellery found in Staffordshire

The earliest example of Iron Age gold jewellery in Britain has been found in a farmland field in Staffordshire. The collection, which has been named the Leekfrith Iron Age Torcs, was discovered by two metal detectorists – Mark Hambleton and Joa Kania – just before Christmas. At an unveiling on…

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De Beers reports ‘good demand’ in second sales cycle of 2017

The De Beers Group of Companies has reported “good demand” for rough diamonds in its second sales cycle of the year. Provisional sales for the company’s second sales cycle of 2017 stood at $545m (£438m), although this was down on its first sales cycle of the year which sold rough…

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Watchfinder opens Canary Wharf store

Pre-owned luxury watch retailer Watchfinder has opened a new store in Canary Wharf, London, following a £5m funding package from HSBC. The funding is part of a larger investment in Watchfinder from HSBC, which aims to allow an “enhanced and increased range of luxury watch supply available to its online…

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Rapaport opens auction with more than 120,000 carats of diamond

Rapaport has opened its melee auction this week with more than 120,000 carats of diamond on offer. The auction offers a broad range of recycled and finely assorted premium quality diamond parcels in all shapes, qualities and sizes. The recycled diamonds are sourced from retailers, pawnshops and refineries from around…

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Bransom reports ‘high level of interest’ from J&W Show

Bransom Retail Systems has reported “high levels of interest” at the Jewellery & Watch Show for its new cloud-based mobile point-of-sale (mPoS) solution. Chris Garland, MD of the company, said its existing customers had shown a great deal of interest in adding the new mPOS tablet solution to their existing…

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