Voice on the High Street – Libby Butler Jewellers

Tell us about your business Libby Butler Jewellers is an independent retail jeweller in the market town of Helmsley, North Yorkshire. It has operated since 2002, and my partner Andy and I bought it in 2009, as a second career after working in Europe in the automotive industry for multinational companies. We wanted to run our own business and the original owner Libby Butler was selling due to personal reasons. We were in town for a coffee one afternoon and popped in to enquire about it, and within three months we had bought it. You took over the company in 2009, what changes have you introduced? We have introduced new ranges in both 9ct gold and silver, as well as changing the watch brands stocked. We kept existing suppliers as well, and have made changes gradually. We have added a website to the business, and introduced a made-to-order wedding ring service. We have aggressively reduced costs in utilities, advertising and insurance by shopping around and have increased marketing, particularly in social media (@libbybutlers on Twitter and /LibbyButlerJewellers on Facebook) and PR, which has helped us to grow the profit margin. Is it essential to add other services to your offering? Our engraving service can help sell cufflinks, rings, lockets, pocket watches and gifts such as hip flasks - customers can add personalisation at the time of purchase. We also gain additional turnover from engraving for the local schools and clubs on trophies and awards. Jewellery repairs are an excellent way to stay in touch with local residents, who make up 60% of our sales anyway, it’s amazing what catches people’s eye while browsing, when they are dropping in a chain break or ring resize, it’s the same with £5 watch battery replacements that turn into jewellery sales. I think the additional services also improve our credibility as a jeweller, as opposed to a gift shop selling jewellery. The made-to-order services are particularly popular for wedding bands, and we’ve seen an increase in re-modelling of family jewellery in the last two years. How important is having an online store for an independent jeweller? I think it is very important, with the trend for online shopping increasing, but it is difficult to operate and maintain a site when your products are constantly changing and it is also hard to get the all-important quality images needed to show the products off. Customers still like to try jewellery and watches on before buying and it is a personal purchase and so I think it is important to have a shop as well as the online service, most of our website customers have been in our shop before they buy online, so the trust in the business is already there. What advice would you give to someone starting out in the industry? Ask plenty of questions. Being new to the industry, we have found it to be very friendly and have had great support from suppliers and fellow retailers. Stay away from suppliers who want to retail themselves at low margins as well as wholesaling to you. This can affect your reputation with customers if they see products you are selling in your shop being sold online or elsewhere at heavily discounted prices. What does the future hold for Libby Butler Jewellers? We want to increase our online sales by improving our website, which is a work in progress at the moment. We are always looking for new suppliers, to keep our ranges looking fresh, and are always excited to find something at the shows that we know our customers will love and treasure when they buy it from us. This article first appeared in the February 2015 issue of Jewellery Focus