News
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Apr- 2017 -19 April
‘Bloomin’ Jewels’ exhibition to be held in Bankside
A new exhibition called Bloomin’ Jewels will be held at Contemporary Applied Arts in Bankside later this month. Celebrating ‘wearable art’, the exhibition will feature over 20 jewellery makers who depict flowers and foliage in their pieces. All makers at the exhibition are contemporary jewellers who have used unconventional materials…
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19 April
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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18 April
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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18 April
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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18 April
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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18 April
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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16 April
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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13 April
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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13 April
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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12 April
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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