113 COMPANY PROFILE Industry experts CME Jewellery has been in the industry for 40 years, seeing off recessions and the recent pandemic. Here Clare Belton, Marketing Manager, tells us about the company’s secret to success When did you start up and why? CME Director, Howard Pessall started out in 1977 selling Silver Jubilee ingots from a market stall. It became a real family concern when he persuaded his parents and brother in law, Drew, to join him. Howard started the business through a love of design and an enjoyment of chatting to customers. From these modest roots 40 years ago CME, which is still a family-run business, has developed into one of the UK’s leading wholesalers of high-quality sterling silver and 9ct gold jewellery, with over 5,000 beautiful designs to choose from. What prompted you to launch the business? The family saw a gap in the market for good quality, competitively priced jewellery and initially worked on the markets to build the capital to launch their first Cash and Carry wholesale outlet. Today CME supplies multinationals, independents, e-traders, museums, gift shops, market stall holders and party planners. What challenges have you overcome since the company’s launch? Over the 40 years we have been in business we survived a few recessions, seen technology change, customers come and go and seen buying patterns change. We have got through these challenges by listening to our customers and changing to meet their needs. It’s an old saying but here at CME the customer really does come first! Tell us about your product offering. Our ethos is to give customers the look and quality of non-branded jewellery at affordable prices. We offer an ever-evolving and expanding range of non-branded, jewellery to suit every style, from traditional and timeless classics to trend-led, fashionable designs. Our in-house design and buying team work hard with suppliers across the globe, to create
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