Jewellery industry and UK market in particular have a relatively established structure where the key focus in placed on brands developing lasting relationships with the limited customer base (Kurth, 2011). At the same time, jewellery retail market is traditionally grounded on the large number of small and medium-size physical retailers where the customer experience and emotional aspect of shopping are the key factors affecting purchasing behaviour.

-  consumers’ per capita consumption power shaped by the overall economic situation in the country; 

-  global prices on materials and precious metals as well as shipping costs due to the economic barriers and tariffs;

-   national currency stability and US dollar strength since all prices for the materials are calculated in USD in the global market.

In what concerns the UK fine jewellery market, it has shown the successive growth four years in a row reaching £3.2 billion in 2017 and forecasted to reach £3.3 billion in 2018 (Hailes, 2018).

Among all product categories within the fine jewellery market necklaces show the most impressive growth of approximately 10% annually (Hailes, 2018). Yet, rings is still the largest category in the UK fine jewellery market in terms of sales worth almost £1.40 billion in 2017 with prediction to reach £1.44 billion in 2018 (Hailes, 2018).

- Brexit and the pound decline created competitive advantages for the high-end fine jewellery brands since the demand for such products among the foreign customers increase due to the actual price decline (Euromonitor, 2018)

- Brexit has negatively affected the purchasing power of the middle class in the UK what resulted in lower sales for the jewellery companies operating in affordable segment (Euromonitor, 2018)

- Changing legislation on taxation and import create unstable business environment aggravated by Brexit and currency fluctuations.

- Trading regulations for imports and exports related to Brexit are expected to negatively affect domestic UK jewellery producers who used to source materials from abroad (Daily Business, 2018);

- Strengthening of dollar what will result in lower profitability of the American brands in the UK jewellery market (Rupp and Prang, 2015; Lahiff, 2018).

- Slowdown of the Asian markets' growth what means that the brands may refocus on the EU markets (Lahiff, 2018).

- Increased competition for talents in the jewellery and design industry and for the top executive professionals (Lutz, 2017);

- Millennials have become the key consumers group of jewellery and their perception of luxury and status products differ from the one traditionally favouring jewellery industry (Euromonitor, 2018).

- Advanced technological devices like the smart watches became one of the key competitors of the jewellery brands in what concerns the products consumers are willing to spend their money on (Lutz, 2017);

- Communication technologies and the development of e-commerce provided consumers with access to the wider choice of jewellery brands (Patnaik and Cavale, 2016);

- New production technologies such as, for example, 3D printing or multi-functional jewellery, may change the competition in the market.

- Taxes on precious metals are high in the UK with 20% value-added tax on silver and 28% Capital Gains tax on profits from precious metals (Precious Metal Tax, 2015); 

- Environmental regulations may create additional challenges for the UK jewellery producers.

- Contamination of the watersheds caused by various processes associated with precious metals extraction and mining: according to data only 20% of jewellery companies adhere to sustainable practices in this regard (Kaye, 2011);

- Possible toughening of environmental regulations by the UK government, which would directly or indirectly affect jewellery manufacturing and sourcing. 

- Young independent jewellery brands positioning themselves as “demi-fine” jewellery brands offering more affordable prices and cool design what makes them attractive for the Millennials (brands like Gaia Repossi, Jennifer Meyer, Delfina Delettrez and others) (Mau, 2017);

- New direct-to-consumer fine jewellery brands that launch sales on social media and sell online only (brands like Catbird, Grace Lee) (Mau, 2017);

- IT companies producing “smart” accessories like Apple Watch, fitness trackers, etc. since this is now the alternative option for the consumers to spend their money on instead of the jewellery (Lutz, 2017).

Strengths: 

- For the new young brands that sell and promote mainly online the main strengths is that they start using social media as point-of-sale right away from their launch while the traditional jewellery companies struggle to reposition and to incorporate digital marketing and e-commerce into their established business model (Mau, 2017); 
- Increased interest of consumers to niche small brands that may customise products;
- New companies are more flexible in adapting to trends and modifying marketing and product strategies than the large companies;
- Smaller brands often successfully compete on price by offering the same quality of products at more affordable price tag.

Weaknesses: 

- New and smaller brands are often limited in financial terms what reduce their ability to compete in marketing with large brands;
- Smaller and niche brands to not have recognizable and trusted brand image;
- New companies do not have well-developed network of suppliers and often pay higher for production because of the smaller quantities they order;
- New or small companies commonly have limited industry experience and knowledge and less professional management team.

- Broader use of social media for advertising and promotion purposes;
- Collaboration with celebrities and influencers;
- Focus on the Millennials as the key target audience;
- Constant improvement of production technologies and design.

- Trendy design and flexibility in adapting to consumer trends: modern jewellery clients want to see the design that fits the latest trends and is modern but still reveal the level of craftsmanship (Tyagi, 2018);

- Elaborated marketing strategy covering both online and offline sales and promotion channels: it is important to effectively combine both platforms irrespective of the target group a brand focuses on (Mau, 2017);

- Collaboration with the celebrities and influencers: this has become one of the main KSFs for modern jewellery brands and the choice of celebrities is crucial in reaching and attracting the desired target audience of consumers (Mau, 2017);

- Diversified supply chain: this would allow reducing risks of economic vulnerability in the UK or in other markets the jewellery companies purchase materials from.

 

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