Christmas
Christmas is the most crucial trading period for the UK jewellery industry, driving significant sales across retail, wholesale, and e-commerce. For jewellers, manufacturers, and suppliers, understanding seasonal trends, consumer behaviour, and effective marketing strategies is essential to maximising opportunities during the festive period. Jewellery Focus provides extensive coverage on Christmas trading, including sales performance analysis, product trends, promotional campaigns, and insights into supply chain readiness. Our reporting helps trade professionals prepare for and capitalise on the busiest season of the year.
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Jun- 2020 -23 JuneFeatures
Coronavirus: The jewellery industry’s story
At the time of writing, the UK’s embattled high street has been given a glimmer of hope, after prime minister Boris Johnson announced plans on 25 May to allow non-essential retailers to open by mid-June. The announcement will be welcome news for many jewellers who have struggled over the past…
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18 JuneDesigners
Maya Gemstones sees 23% rise in engagement ring sales
Jewellers have reported a significant increase in the sales of engagement rings during the lockdown period, according to Maya Gemstones. Olga Pekarevskaia, the founder of the brand, said it has seen a 23% increase in sales of engagement rings during lockdown. In addition, many of its customers are requesting the…
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1 JuneDesigners
Master craftsman Simon Caldicott dies aged 62
Theo Fennell has announced the passing of Simon Caldicott, the award-winning master craftsman, mounter, model maker and small worker who spent nearly forty years working for the designer. Caldicott passed away at the age of 62, following a short illness. A statement issued by designer Theo Fennell said: “I am…
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May- 2020 -27 MayE-Commerce
UK online sales surge by more than 100% in May
UK online sales surged by 103% in the four weeks ended 16 May, according to new data from Nielsen. The consumer insights firm said this was a significant increase compared with the 6.6% sales growth in bricks-and-mortar stores, with online share of sales now accounting for 13% of all grocery…
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Feb- 2020 -10 FebruaryAnalysis
Ocado ditches Waitrose; Bill gates orders £500m beast-yacht; Boris to lower immigration wage threshold
A busy start to the week in the business pages. As the coronavirus story unfolds I am reluctant to spend every day providing updates on it, but it is worth noting quickly that there is likely to be some worldwide economic turbulence due to the latest developments. A slew of…
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5 FebruaryAnalysis
Tesla, Macy’s and organic food: serious change is afoot
Sometimes change is sudden and surprising, but sometimes it bubbles away under the surface for decades before making a serious impact, and in today’s roundup I have a few examples of the latter to highlight. First, there is Tesla. The firm led by billionaire space-AI Elon Musk has long been…
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Jan- 2020 -31 JanuaryAnalysis
The whole Amazon thing is getting scary now
The ‘growth of online retail’ is now so proverbial that the phrase itself is nearly redundant. Is anyone surprised to learn this morning that Amazon has absolutely rampaged through the Christmas retail season, while scores of well-known bricks-and-mortar retailers reported a torrid set of financial results for the same period?…
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17 JanuaryInternational
Signet Jewellers performance ‘falls short’ over Christmas
Signet Jewellers, the parent company of H. Samuel and Ernest Jones, has reported a dip in like-for-like sales over the Christmas period. Its UK division saw like-for-like sales slide by 3.1%, which reflected a “difficult operating environment in the UK”. Whilst e-commerce sales grew by 15.8%, brick and mortar sales…
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15 JanuaryAnalysis
Boohoo more valuable than M&S – a sea-change encapsulated
From a purely journalistic standpoint it is now a de facto cliché to refer to Marks and Spencer as the “high street bellwether”, yet that is the status it has held for so many decades. The once mighty monolith was the first British retailer to reach a market capitalisation of…
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10 JanuaryEconomy
‘Worst year on record’ for retail, says BRC
Total retail sales decreased by 0.1% in 2019, compared with the 1.2% increase recorded in 2018, making it the “worst year on record” for retail according to the BRC. Helen Dickinson, CEO of the BRC, said this was reflected in the CVAs, shop closures and job losses that the industry…
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