The Jeweller Summer ‘22: The Last Word Goes To...Adam Jacobs
19 Jul 2022
The NAJ’s new vice chair is Adam Jacobs, joint owner of awardwinning Jacobs the Jewellers in Reading. A graduate of Bath University with a BSc (Hons) in management, he subsequently worked at Marks & Spencer Plc head office and later in a boutique marketing agency in London before joining the family business.
Who has been the biggest influence on your working life?
It would be impossible not to say my parents – it’s a family business, so the time working in parallel and handover was always going to be pivotal. Ian and Adrienne have an extraordinary work ethic and the confidence to be different and not follow the crowd (in practical not crazy ways!). That’s been a great example to me.
Their commitment to the community we serve is deep-rooted – something I share. We’re mid-way through our current fundraising for new chairs at our local hospital’s children’s wards – we’re £25k into our £44k target – to give parents who have to sleep over a more comfortable stay.
Tell us about your career journey in the jewellery industry? When did you join Jacobs the Jewellers and was it always a foregone conclusion that you would?
I’d had two careers before joining the family business in 2003, so it was never written in the stars. A bunch of fortuitous coincidences led to it being a good time for me to join; my two previous incarnations had set me up well to come in with a differing but complementary skill set. I’m pretty unimaginative in that I’ve only ever worked here, in our store, jewellery industry-wise, but I’ve always wanted to be involved in the wider trade. This has been achieved with my work with the NAJ, and on The Goldsmiths’ Company’s marketing committee. Both roles are incredibly rewarding.
What three words describe you best… in your view AND according to others?
I’d say busy, engaged, bald. Others say fair, forward-planning, generous.
Which four industry characters (with us today OR departed) would be your ideal dinner companions, and why?
I’d take our team out – which is admittedly more than four people – they are doing an amazing job, and we don’t get to go out as much as we’d like to!
What’s your guilty pleasure?
Finishing my kids’ dinners when they’re done.
What challenges do you envisage for the jewellery industry over the next year or two?
It seems as if we’ve had relentlessly shortening crises timeframes: roughly 11 years ago a credit crunch, six years since the Brexit vote, three years since Covid and now a cost-of-living crisis. In the circumstances, getting through this past decade isn’t going too badly! In practical terms, I think the challenge for retailers right now is being in the mix for our customers’ disposable spend. That’s not necessarily between one jewellery shop or another – it can be between our sector and, for example, holidays, extensions or cars. That’s not to mention the thin slicing of people’s incomes from monthly direct debits of bills, insurance, utilities, mobile phones, TV subscriptions and all the other things that really add up.
Tell us something not many people know about you…
My desk drawer is a tip.
As the new vice-chair of the NAJ, what hopes do you have for the Association and its members and what do you hope to bring to the table?
Having chaired Reading UK, the public/ private inward investment and development group for Reading, I’ve learned a lot about bringing people together with a common purpose. Consensus building and relationships are key when it’s a voluntary position, such as the NAJ. So that’s definitely something I bring, and with a bit of a fresh view from different experiences to challenge, gently, and evolve the status quo.
If you could wave a magic wand, what would be the one thing you would change about the jewellery industry?
I’d like us all to be talking about what we have in common, and how we can work together… wider than just our own spheres.
What keeps you awake at night?
Tequila vodka Red Bull
View Jacobs the Jewellers
Source: The Jeweller