Economy
The economy has a direct influence on the UK jewellery trade, affecting consumer spending, material costs, and business confidence across the sector. For jewellers, manufacturers, and suppliers, staying informed on economic trends is vital to planning and resilience. Jewellery Focus provides expert coverage of economic developments impacting the trade, including inflation, interest rates, consumer confidence, and supply chain challenges. Our reporting helps jewellery professionals understand the wider market forces shaping their business environment.
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Jan- 2020 -9 JanuaryAnalysis
Who would have thought skinny jeans could be anyoneโs undoing?
Itโs not often that the business pages give you a good belly laugh. But today we have the spectacle of Marks & Spencer blaming its poor Christmas trading results partly on an oversupply of skinny jeans for men. Apparently customer surveys revealed that the high street bellwetherโs ranges were โtoo…
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6 JanuaryBusiness Bites
As long as WW3 does not kick off, 2020 looks set to be a better year
All eyes on are on the rising tensions between the United States and Iran after president Trump ordered the assassination of Iranโs most powerful general, Qassem Suleimani. The oil price has risen, stocks have fallen this morning, and the threat of war almost always depresses global trade flows. But letโs…
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2 JanuaryBusiness Bites
The internet need not be the scourge of every sector โ just ask the CEO of Mountain Warehouse
The last decade in business was arguably characterised by one word: disruption. While the internet behemoths had already begun building serious fortunes in the 2000s, most would agree it was after 2010 that things really started motoring. Heralded as the great democratiser of information and services, the effects of a…
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Dec- 2019 -17 DecemberBusiness Bites
โJingle botsโ are artificially ramming online shopping baskets to use up stock
I have my reservations about this story because we spend a lot of time in our office poring over the news for interesting stories and takes, and we havenโt seen it reported like this before. But it comes from a company called Radware, which is a publicly traded web app…
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13 DecemberBusiness Bites
The election is over โ time for the Tories to deliver for small businesses
It now looks as though political stasis and all the damage that does to business will be lifted in 2020. Boris Johnsonโs victory in the election is the Toriesโ strongest since the Thatcher era, and gives him great scope to implement bold policies. At this juncture itโs worth taking a…
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Nov- 2019 -1 NovemberEconomy
Treasury Committee urges MPs to reform โbrokenโ business rates
The government has been urged to fix the โbrokenโ business rates system as it is continuing to affect high street retailers, a Treasury committee has said. An influential group of MPs has asked the government to examine alternatives to property tax, which puts more pressure on high street retailers than…
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Oct- 2019 -15 OctoberEconomy
BRC ‘disappointedโ with business rates relief in Queen’s speech
The British Retail Consortium has responded to the Queenโs speech, praising its approach to crime and sustainability but was โsurprised and disappointedโ at its approach to business rates. Commenting on the speech, which tackled issues such as immigration, crime, business rates and brexit, The BRC said: โThe Government should implement…
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Sep- 2019 -30 SeptemberFeatures
The SDGs are our path to sustainable growth
We live in a world of changes so profound and rapid that no one can stand alone. The 2030 Agenda โ the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) play an important leadership role for the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) in driving progress on the implementation of the goals, building positive impact…
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Aug- 2019 -14 AugustRetailers
Over 50 retailers sign letter demanding business rates fix
Over fifty major retailers have come together to demand the government takes action to fix the โbrokenโ business rates system. In a letter to the new chancellor, Sajid Javid, retailers have called on the government to put business rates โat the heartโ of the promised new economic package. The letter,…
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Jul- 2019 -5 JulyCrime
FSB calls for next PM to tackle ยฃ17bn business ‘crime crisis’
Small businesses are incurring costs of almost ยฃ17bn every year due to criminal activity, according to new research from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). Reacting to the statistics, FSB national chairman Mike Cherry, has called for the next prime minister to increase police numbers to help tackle the problem.…
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