Small business confidence continues to rise

UK small business confidence is at its highest level in over a year, according to the latest Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) Small Business Index (SBI). Despite a rise in business costs there has been a strong recovery pushed forward due to increased international trade. A net balance of 15.6%…

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London leads European retail market for third consecutive year

Central London remains the retail market leader in Europe according to a report from global real estate advisors, Colliers International. The report said its ongoing success is due to greater numbers of Britons and tourists spending more in the capital than any other market. The figures showed that London had…

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Independent gallery launches Nottingham Jewellery School

The Focus Gallery in Nottingham has launched a new jewellery school to teach skills to local designer-makers. The gallery hopes that the new ‘Nottingham Jewellery School’ will help local jewellers “brush up on existing skills and engage their creativity”. With the official Opening on 6 May, the first day will…

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PM Theresa May seeks snap election on 8 June

Prime Minister Theresa May today made an unscheduled announcement calling for a General Election on 8 June.Speaking outside 10 Downing Street on Tuesday morning, May said Britain needed “certainty, stability and strong leadership following the EU referendum.” She added that “the country is coming together but Westminster is not.” May…

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Easter weekend sees footfall rise for UK high street

Major high streets saw an increase in footfall over the Easter weekend. According to Springboard, there was a 1.2% year-on-year rise in footfall across the country between Friday and Sunday. London’s West End saw a 6.8% surge of footfall over the Easter holiday. The number of in-store purchases also saw an…

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Hallmarking down from 2016

Hallmarking has shown a year-on-year decrease for the first quarter of 2017. Figures released by the four UK assay offices, and compiled by the Birmingham Assay Office, showed that there was a total of 1,921,716 articles hallmarked in the first quarter of 2017, an 11.9% drop from 2016. Comparing the…

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Diamond prices pick up after ‘disappointing’ first quarter

The diamond market was “significantly” weaker in the first quarter of the year when compared with previous figures, according to Rapaport. The report noted that retailers were “cautiously replacing their inventory”. It said that, although March had seen an improvement in prices, the Easter holidays had led to a slowing…

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Gold sales increase by a fifth at UK Royal Mint

The UK Royal Mint’s gold sales have jumped by 20% in the first three months of the year, according to information obtained by Bloomberg. The email sent to Bloomberg said that after month-on-month declines in the first two months of 2017, March gold sales had jumped by 263% in volume…

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Lighting specialists Parify to launch in US

Parify, which specialises in retail display and lighting for jewellers, has announced plans to expand into the US. Co-owners Andy Twigg and Scot Walker, founded the business back in 2013 when they discovered a gap in the market for LED lighting. The company has seen “impressive growth” over the past…

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Apple sues Swatch over ‘Tick Different’ slogan

Apple’s legal team has lodged a complaint with the Swiss Federal Administrative Court to sue Swatch over the use of the slogan ‘Tick Different’ in its recent ad campaign. Claiming the phrase capitalises on Apple’s ‘Think Different’ ads, the technology giant filed its complaint against the watchmaker last week. Swatch…

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