MONTH IN REVIEW
www.jewelleryfocus.co.uk
CHARITY
TH March are
‘turning it purple’
for pancreatic
awareness month
Staff at chartered insurance brokers
TH March have joined Pancreatic
Cancer Action charity’s ‘Turn it Purple’
campaign to raise funds and awareness
for the cause.
The team have been led by their
work colleague Jean Keast who lost her
brother Paul to the disease.
November is the month when the
charity Pancreatic Cancer Action
and its supporters focus on raising
awareness of the killer disease about
which levels of understanding and
funding for treatment, are very low. The
current UK survival rate is only 7%.
The charity’s flagship ‘Turn it
Purple’ campaign aims to raise
consciousness by encouraging
people, places even landmarks all
over the UK to ‘Turn it Purple’.
At the company’s National Service
Centre in Yelverton, Devon staff have
dressed in purple, held raffles with
purple prizes and cooked and sold
purple themed food and cakes.
Since she began her fundraising,
Jean has raised £5774.72 with around
another £200 raised this week from her
TH March colleagues.
By the end of November Jean is
hoping for an additional £1000 from all
the shops and businesses supporting
her purple butterfly campaign (part of a
UK-wide ‘Display it Purple’ campaign )
in her home town of Tavistock, Devon.
In December there will be more
fundraising when Jean has a Christmas
tree at her local church’s annual
Christmas Tree festival. Her purple
themed tree will be dedicated to the
memory of those who lost their fight
against pancreatic cancer.
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JEWELLERY FOCUS
ECONOMY
Spending growth
slows to 2.4% as
consumers feel
‘inflation squeeze’
Consumer spending growth slowed to
2.4% year-on-year in October which,
with inflation at 3%, equated to a
contraction in real terms.
Brits cut back across the board to
cope with their diminished spending
power, and in anticipation of a potential
interest rate hike.
Data from Barclaycard revealed
that spending on essentials (2.9%)
outstripped discretionary spend growth
(2.2%) for the second month running.
The overall trend of paring back
indicates that consumers have adapted
to months of ‘feeling the squeeze’ of
higher inflation and stagnant wage
growth. This could explain why 64%
said they were confident in their own
household finances.
Brits are not optimistic about the
UK economy, however, with just 31%
expressing confidence about its future.
This is the second lowest number in
the last 12 months and down 6% on
September.
Many are also concerned about the
near future due to the interest rate
rise. In October, 31% of respondents
said they would need to change their
everyday spending patterns to cope
with an increase in the base rate – and
27% indicated such an increase would
affect their Christmas spending plans.
Paul Lockstone, managing director
at Barclaycard, said: “Household
expenditure remained muted in October
and, when taking into account inflation,
equated to a decline in real terms”.
As we enter the run up to
Christmas, Black Friday will
be the first major opportunity to
see whether consumers really do
tighten their belts
Paul Lockstone, managing
director at Barclaycard
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STAT OF THE MONTH
10%
This is how much the
price of a stand has been
reduced by at next year's
Baselworld
DIAMONDS
Diamnet launches
personal
shopping service
for diamonds
Trading platform Diamnet has launched
its personal shopping service ahead of
the full release of its software.
The platform, which was launched by
former managing director of Chalfen
of London, Howard Levine, has a
database of over 50,000 diamonds.
It aims to connect retailers with
manufacturers and diamond dealers
from the UK, India, Israel and Antwerp.
As the platform is not yet live, Levine
has decided to launch the personal
shopping service to avoid the stones
available going ‘out of date’.
He will use each retailer’s
requirements to match them with the
stone they desire.
Levine said: “I will trudge through
the list in order to find you the best
option. I will even check the stones
before sending out to really find you
something that will get you closer to
making that important sale. You just
need to let me know your requirements
and I will do all the hard work for free.
“Why do it yourself when you can
have an expert do it for you. If you
trusted me before, trust me now!”
December 2017 | jewelleryfocus.co.uk