Pandemic
The pandemic has had a lasting impact on the UK jewellery trade, reshaping consumer habits, supply chains, and retail strategies. For jewellers, manufacturers, and suppliers, understanding these changes is essential to adapting and building resilience. Jewellery Focus provides in-depth coverage of the pandemic’s effects on the industry, including market analysis, business recovery strategies, e-commerce growth, and insights into shifting demand patterns. Our reporting helps trade professionals navigate the ongoing challenges and opportunities in a post-pandemic landscape.
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Sep- 2020 -11 SeptemberCoronavirus
Businesses hit by local lockdowns to receive grants
Businesses in England that are required to shut due to local lockdowns will now be able to claim up to £1,500 per property every three weeks, the Government has announced. Chief secretary to the Treasury, Steve Barclay, announced the new funding plan yesterday (10 September) as part of ongoing efforts…
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10 SeptemberCoronavirus
125,500 retail jobs lost since start of 2020
Some 125,515 retail jobs have been lost since the start of 2020, according to the latest data from the Centre for Retail Research (CRR). Of this figure, 43,381 jobs were lost through administrations, 10,556 through CVAs and 71,578 through rationalisation schemes. The UK’s embattled high street has also seen the…
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10 SeptemberCurrent Affairs
Government launches new ‘bounce back’ plan for retailers
A new series of measures has been announced by the UK Government to support businesses in the consumer and retail industries during the Covid-19 pandemic. The plans, announced by Minister for exports Graham Stuart, will offer immediate support to businesses by ensuring specialists provide advice on online retail and international…
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9 SeptemberNews
Drakes restores 70-year old watch
Drakes has restored a 70-year old timepiece after it received an email from a customer regarding a watch that was purchased from the family jewellers back in 1950. The timepiece was first purchased by Derrick Hewitt only weeks after Drakes first opened. The watch, which was bought for his sweetheart,…
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8 SeptemberFeatures
Getting closer to Colombia’s emeralds
Every emerald should tell its own story, from the day the precious gemstone is mined and held to the light for the first time, to the moment the customer holds a jewel of such beauty in their hand. Colombia’s Chivor, Coscuez and Muzo mines produce the finest emeralds in the…
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8 SeptemberEconomy
UK retail sales increase by 4.7% in August
UK retail sales in August have increased by 4.7% on a like-for-like basis from August 2019, according to figures released in BRC-KPMG’s Retail Sales Monitor report for the month. Overall sales increased by 3.9% in the period, in comparison to a decline of 0.4% in August 2019. This is above…
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7 SeptemberDesigners
Auree launches earrings in aid of Little Village
British jewellery brand Auree has launched a new hoop earring in aid of charity. Its Rowfant Rainbow Charity Hoop earrings will support the charity Little Village, a baby bank based in London which offers clothes to toys for children up to the age of five. The charity also provides a…
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7 SeptemberCoronavirus
Redundancies planned by 60% of mid-sized firms
More than half (60%) of the UK’s medium-sized businesses are planning redundancies as a result of the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme coming to an end in October, according to new research from accountancy and business advisory firm, BDO. BDO’s monthly Rethinking the Economy survey of 500 medium-sized businesses across…
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7 SeptemberEconomy
GDP to contract £15.3bn each year if home working persists
Lower consumer spending and a decrease in economic clustering if pandemic levels of home working persist would reduce UK GDP by £15.3bn every year, according to new research published by PwC. The ‘Big Four’ accountancy firm said the hit to consumption is a result of office workers spending fewer days…
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4 SeptemberEvents
GemGenève cancels November show
GemGenève has announced the decision to cancel its November 2020 show “after careful consideration”. It comes as its organisers said the current pandemic, travel restrictions and increased sanitary precautions make it “impossible for GemGenève to be the interactive experience that we intend it to be”. In a “show of understanding…
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