Month: July 2015

Summer Budget 2015: Sunday trading could be extended

Sunday trading hours could be extended to give businesses greater flexibility over their weekend opening hours, the Chancellor George Osborne has announced.  Speaking at the Summer Budget 2015, the first all-Conservative budget speech since 1996, Osborne said that elected mayors and councils could be given powers to relax local laws…

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Non-food shop price deflation slows in June

The deflation of non-food shop prices slowed to 1.9% in June compared with a drop of 2.5% in April and May.  This is according to the BRC-Nielsen Shop Price Index which found overall shop prices reported deflation of 1.3% in June, up from the 1.9% recorded in May. The fall…

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Diamond prices decline in June

Diamond prices continued to decline in June as decreased demand from the US and the Far East affected manufacturers.  This is according to the latest report from Rapaport which found that diamond markets were relatively quiet as US demand after the JCK Las Vegas show was weaker than in previous…

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Phillips auction house appoints ex-Bonhams watch specialist

Former Bonhams watch specialist Paul Maudsley has been appointed international specialist and director of a new London watches department at Phillips auction house.  The appointment comes after Phillips’ successful inaugural watch auction, held in Geneva, which broke numerous records and achieved 29.6 million Swiss Francs (£20.5m). Maudsley has 16 years…

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Lumbers Jewellers appoint ex-footballer as sales ambassador

Midlands-based jeweller Lumbers has signed Leicester City footballer and cup-winning captain Matt Elliot as a sales ambassador.  Elliott will work alongside Lumbers’ existing sales team representing the store at both in-house and outside events. The appointment comes after the recent announcement that Lumbers is to undergo a £1m relocation and…

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Sotheby’s to auction Cromwell-era ring unearthed by metal detector

An English, late 15th Century ring that was found using a metal detector is to be offered for auction.  The ring was discovered in 2013 near Launde Abbey, an Elizabethan manor house once home to Thomas Cromwell’s son, and will be offered for auction by Sotheby’s in London on Thursday,…

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Breitling to open Bluewater boutique

Land Securities has announced that watch brand Breitling is set to open a 1,583 sq ft boutique in the Bluewater shopping centre in Dartford.  The boutique, which will open this autumn on the shopping centre’s upper Rose Gallery, will be the first of its kind to be managed by Aurum…

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Bolton jewellers hit by armed robbers, passerby knocked over

A gang armed with axes and crowbars have stolen a “large amount” of jewellery from a jewellers in Bolton.    Four offenders travelling on two stolen motorbikes parked up outside the store on Newport Street, Bolton, at 4:45pm on Friday 4 July. Police said that one of the robbers waited…

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Shoppers attempt to apprehend burglars in Manchester raid

Two men have been caught on camera just minutes after carrying out a raid on a jewellery store in Manchester city centre.  The two men were riding a lime green motorcycle and approached Arthur Kay and Brothers Jewellers on Market Street at around 2:50pm on Thursday, July 2, where one…

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Laing Edinburgh secures £1.3m relocation

Independent jeweller Laing Edinburgh is set for a £1.3m relocation to Edinburgh’s exclusive George Street – fulfilling a lifelong dream for chairman Michael Laing.  The jewellers, which is celebrating its 175th anniversary this year, has agreed terms to move into 72 George Street, formerly occupied by Barclays Bank, and is…

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