News

Hancocks London named Mayfair’s ‘Best Independent Jeweller’

Luxury jewellery store Hancocks London has been named the ‘Best Independent Jeweller’ in Mayfair. The Mayfair Awards – run by The Mayfair Magazine – is now in its fifth year and aims to celebrate local businesses that are committed to “excellent as the best in their field”. Hancocks, which beat…

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Retail employment falls 3% in third quarter of 2016

Retail employment fell 3% in the third quarter of the year when compared with the same period in 2015, according to new data released by the British Retail Consortium (BRC). The fall in employment, which represented the third consecutive quarter for falls in employment, came as the number of retail…

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Deakin & Francis launches new LED skull cufflinks ahead of Halloween

Birmingham-based jewellery manufacturer Deakin & Francis has announced the launch of a new set of LED skull cufflinks ahead of the Halloween weekend. In a choice of finishes – including rose gold satin and smooth black matte – the British brand has created a part of skull head designs, which…

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Petra diamond production up 30% as diamond market ‘holds firm’

Mining firm Petra Diamonds has reported a 30% increase in diamond production in its latest trading update for the first quarter of the 2016-2017 financial year. The company’s production increased to 1,097,523 carats – up from 842,796 carats in the same period last year. Petra said this was due to…

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Cornwall jeweller ‘robbed for £250,000’ worth of gold jewellery

Police are appealing for witnesses after a jeweller was broken into and the owner claimed up to £250,000 worth of product was taken from his store in St Ives, Cornwall. The burglary at Kudos jewellery store in Fore Street happened between 3:15am and 3:30am on Tuesday 18 October, when entry…

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Birmingham Assay Office CEO to step down next year

The Birmingham Assay Office (BAO) has announced that its CEO and assay master, Stella Layton, is to leave the role at the end of March 2017. The BAO also announced that Doug Henry, an experienced managing director who has been responsible for several of the organisation’s key projects over the…

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Retailers stuck with ‘unsellable stock’ after granting high volume of returns

Retailers are ‘struggling to cope’ with the volume of refund requests they feel obliged to grant, despite items being unfit for resale. That’s according to new research from Barclaycard which claims retailers are stuck between accommodating shoppers’ demand and balancing their bottom line, with almost six in 10 (57%) giving…

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Two arrested following raid at Colchester jewellers

Two men have been arrested following a burglary at a Colchester jewellers in the early hours of Thursday morning (20 October). Police were called to Ernest Jones in Shewall Walk, Culver Square, at around 2:45am on Thursday, 20 October, after reports that burglars had repeatedly struck display windows in a…

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Independent jewellers encouraged to participate in Small Business Saturday

Small Business Saturday, the annual campaign to promote small businesses across the UK, is encouraging independent jewellers to participate on Saturday, 3 December. Now in its fourth year, Small Business Saturday is estimated to have generated some £623m worth of spending across the country’s small businesses on 6 December, 2015…

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Goldsmiths’ Company issues final call for Make Your Mark entries

The deadline for the inaugural Make Your Mark Awards is at 5pm on Friday 21st October 2016, the Goldsmiths’ Company has announced. Judges will be looking for the best design of a precious metal piece incorporating a UK hallmark within the design, and says the spirit of the awards is…

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