THE GROWING NETWORK OF ASIAN JEWELLERS IN LONDON

Indians comprise of about 1.4 million people in the United Kingdom making them the single largest visible ethnic minority population in the country. British Pakistanis are number two with a population of 1.17 million. With a population of half a million, Bangladeshis are also not too far behind. There are close to 700 jewellers in the UK and London alone has 150 jewellers of Asian origin that cater to the needs of the Asian population. Asians the world over are known for their entrepreneurial skills and business acumen and Anil Prabhakar during his recent visit to the UK, studied the Asian diaspora within the jewellery community

-  Anil Prabhakar

Market size and characteristics Based on the 2016 census, UK has a population of 65 million and a per capita GDP of 28,448 pounds. Retail is the largest private sector employer in UK and employs 3 million people. According to Mintel, a London based privately owned market research agency, United Kingdom’s jewellery market is estimated to be around 4.5 billion pounds per annum. Adam Smith the Scottish Economist famously known as the father of capitalism was the first one to describe United Kingdom as the ‘Nation of Shopkeepers’ in his book Wealth of Nations published way back in 1776. He had said that the Government of Britain was exceptional because it was “influenced by shopkeepers”, by which he meant small and medium-sized traders and businesses.

The UK economy differs today from the rest of the developed world. The entrepreneurship spirit still runs strong. In 2018, there were 5.7 million businesses in the UK, of which 95 per cent were small ones. 65 per cent of UK’s retail sales are contributed by independents and the jewellery sector is no different. It is dominated by independent family run businesses. While there are some large multiple chains, such as H Samuel, Ernest Jones, Beaverbrooks, Fraser Hart, Goldsmiths and F Hinds, which have a presence in many shopping centres and larger town centres, the family jeweller is commonplace and remains one of the last bastions of true independent retailing to be found on Britain’s high streets.

Consumer preference for buying fine jewellery in the UK

• 29 per cent of the consumers prefer to buy jewellery from chain stores such as H Samuels. Their preferred destination for fashion jewellery is Argos chain store with a store count of over 883 doors.

• 22 per cent from Independents.

• 12 per cent from premium store chains & departmental stores such as Harrods,

Harvey Nichols & Selfridges.