Editor’s Blog
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Mar- 2020 -30 March
The minimum wage increase is about to hit – and it beggars belief
As if to bang the final nail into the coffin himself, we can only assume the Treasury’s top man, chancellor Rishi Sunak, refuses to give ground on the next wave to crash over the retail and hospitality industries. I am talking of course about the increase in the National Minimum…
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Feb- 2020 -25 February
Coronavirus will be felt
It is becoming increasingly clear that the new coronavirus, which causes the disease Covid-19, is going to have a significant impact on the global economy. The trouble creeps in with very large, complex and therefore fragile supply chains – companies that work with products assembled in a string of different…
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Aug- 2018 -28 August
Not so charmed
This month brought the news that Anders Colding Friis would stepping down as president and CEO of Pandora by the end of August. His departure was announced against a backdrop of shares which slumped by nearly a quarter on Tuesday 7 August after a reduced sales and profit growth forecast,…
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May- 2018 -31 May
High street health
Two interesting things struck me in our news coverage this month. First a new selling feature on photo-sharing social media app, Instagram, was ignored by more than 80% of retailers in its first week. A new ‘Shopping’ feature was rolled out to business accounts in the UK, as well as…
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Feb- 2018 -9 February
A fond farewell to Patrick and Vivian Fuller
This month brought the news that WB The Creative Jewellery Group, which owns Domino, Gecko and Weston Beamor, has been sold to the Heimerle + Meule Group by owners Patrick and Vivian Fuller. I have met Patrick many times since becoming editor of Jewellery Focus and what always struck me…
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Oct- 2017 -25 October
Fighting back against the algorithms
Now that the show season has cooled down, we head into the final quarter of the year, and begin gearing up for the Christmas sales period. The retail landscape remains challenging, but the UK economy continues to hold up in reasonable condition, and there are some significant reasons to be…
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Sep- 2017 -12 September
Seeking clarity
The Company of Master Jewellers, I am assured, is soon to turn a corner. It has been extremely difficult to secure concrete answers to some of the questions that have been swirling around the corridors of the jewellery industry this last month, and indeed to establish what exactly the top…
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Aug- 2017 -15 August
How jewellery can tap into the zeitgeist
It’s no secret that consumer technology pervades almost everything we do nowadays, but a perhaps under-reported but clearly associated phenomenon is the impact it is having on design and creativity. This month alone, I have a seen a slew of brands designing and manufacturing jewellery pieces which take their inspiration…
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2 August
EDITOR’S COMMENT: What now for the CMJ?
Much ink has been spilled by the trade press over the sudden and barely explicated departure of Willie Hamilton, the polarising chief executive of the Company of Master Jewellers. Apart from those at the top, it would seem nobody knew he was about to vacate his post, and those in…
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Jul- 2017 -10 July
Watch out for those toxins
Rules can seem boring but rarely do they exist for no reason. In recent weeks, a study found some low cost necklace jewellery had excessive levels of lead, cadmium or nickel release. The study, carried out by London Trading Standards on low-cost necklace jewellery found (in the worst cases) parts…
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