What one Fylde coast jeweller has done to make people feel safe when they come back to its shops after the lockdown

That’s life after lockdown for a Fylde coast-based jewellery retailer which is preparing to reopen 58 of its stores in England following the latest Government announcement.

Family-owned jeweller, Beaverbrooks said it had come up with a comprehensive plans for reopening stores safely.

They include floor markings and physical boundaries to ensure safe social distancing for customers and staff to minimise any spread of the virus, daily temperature checks for team members, and hand sanitiser stations at the entrance and in the stores.

The sanitisers will be mandatory for shoppers to use before entering.

Each store team will have a customer host to greet shoppers upon arrival and a designated team member to provide personal assistance during their visit.

Aside from the host, colleagues will not be required to wear face masks or PPE, but will have the option to do so if they choose.

Masks and gloves will also be available for customers should they choose to wear them, and individual appointments will be permitted for special purchases such as engagement rings, at the beginning and end of the day.

Anna Blackburn, managing director at Beaverbrooks, said: “As always, the safety of our people and customers is our number one priority.

“Over the past few months, we have been developing comprehensive plans for this reopening, which put safety at the top of the list while ensuring we are able to resume the high level of personal service our customers expect.”

The jeweller has also outlined the measures it has put in place to allow customers to try on jewellery safely, as it believes sentimental items and considered purchases should be seen by customers up close and in person.

It has come up with a rigorous hygiene process to enable them to do this, with limited stock rotated on a regular basis and the use of a specialist cleaning solution that will disinfect jewellery between wears, killing germs without damaging valuable diamonds, jewellery or watches.

Anna added: “An engagement ring is one of the most important purchases you’ll ever make and to be able to see the sparkle and brilliance of a diamond for yourself and fall in love with the ring is so important – it’s a special moment and an experience you can only really get by being there in person.

“It has been a challenging and uncertain time for all of us, but we are feeling optimistic about the future, our 960 colleagues are looking forward to reopening.”

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