Company Q&A: Betts Metals

Following the company’s acquisition of Sutton Tools, we stopped by the company’s base in Birmingham and spoke to Rosannah Fellows, operations and marketing manager, to find out more.

Give us a quick summary of Betts Metals’ history.

Betts Metal Sales is a member of the Stephen Betts Group. The original family business, specialising in smelting and refining bullion, was founded in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter in 1760. The business is still being managed by the Betts family today, in its ninth consecutive generation. Betts Metal Sales has also incorporated Sutton Tools as well as most recently Unity Wedding Bands.

Has the inception of the internet changed the way you run the business?

With the advent of the internet and state of the art manufacturing and customer management systems, the business is almost unrecognisably different from the days of the industrial revolution, but some things never change: our core commitments to service and quality have endured through the centuries and will always remain central to our business.

What products and services do you offer? 

We have everything that a jeweller needs. From wedding ring blanks, finished rings, bullion and jewellery tools, to scrap and refining. We offer services in house, ranging from polishing, plating, engraving and patterning.

What are the key benefits you offer the independent jewellery retailer? Why choose Betts Metals?

We have the UK’s widest range of stocked wedding rings. Not only do we provide wedding ring blanks, we can also finish polish, pattern, engrave and plate the rings. We do two wedding ring sample boxes containing silver samples of our rings with their unique code engraved on them making it easier for the retail jeweller to order them with us. Not only are we experts in the field, we go the extra mile for our customers, we have had customers phoning up needing a ring for their customer in a matter of days and we have gone out of our way to ensure the customer gets the ring in time!

Tell us more about your wedding ring sample boxes.

We have two boxes. Our 72 ring box contains Courts, Cushion Courts and Flat Courts. Our 54 ring box contains Flats and shapes. All rings are Argentium Silver and come engraved with our code. There is space for a plaque to be engraved with our customer’s logo. The box can be displayed as it is, or the pads can be removed and propped up for an alternative display. We can provide bespoke wedding ring boxes as well, with patterned weds, gold plating or diamond set rings. The options are endless.

We also asked some questions about Sutton Tools, which Betts recently acquired:

When was Sutton Tools founded? 

Sutton Tools was founded in 1884, also a family run business supplying quality tools, equipment and materials to the jewellery industry. Sutton Tools has always been located in the heart of Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter and is a perfect match for Betts as they both share the same ‘family’ ideals and ethos.

What products do you offer? 

As we are now part of the Stephen Betts Group, we truly are a one stop shop for jewellers to get everything they need under ‘one roof’. We offer a huge array of jewellery tools and materials, from machinery, hand tools right down to consumables. We have a strong reputation for bringing the latest technology to the UK market and are the official UK distributor for Lampert, PUK and GRS. As well as the tools side of things, we also stock wedding ring blanks, bullion, findings, and so much more. Betts will go out of their way to help our customer get exactly what they want, after all our catch line is ‘can’t find it, Betts will’.

You are launching a new training facility, can you tell us more about that?

We are very excited about the new training facility project that we are about to put into production, we as a distributer of several worldwide brands feel that as a Birmingham based tools company here in the heart of the jewellery quarter we would like to not only be able to give comprehensive training on all of our machinery to all of our customers but we would also like to be able to give training courses to hobbyists, students anyone in fact who has an interest in jewellery making. we also feel that there is a gap in jewellery production techniques for students who may want to take a look into other areas of jewellery manufacture to enable and help them with their course work.