Fitzgerald Jewellers is a bespoke jewellery specialist based in Canterbury, Kent. We spoke to Trevor Fitzgerald from Fitzgerald Jewellers to find out more about the business and the local charity collaborations that earned them our CMJ retailer of the month this November.

Tell us about what your business specialises in?

We specialise in bespoke jewellery. We’re really passionate about what we make in our onsite workshop, so much so that the bespoke side of our business has overtaken everything else. We do stock branded jewellery and watches but they are more of an entry experience into the world of Fitzgerald Jewellers. Many of our customers started out having a repair done here and there and inevitably end up with a suite of bespoke jewellery custom made by us. It’s completely different to what we started out doing but we wouldn’t change it for the world. It works for us and our customers.

How would you like to see the business grow in the next 12 months and beyond?

We’re really keen to invest in the workshop side of our business, specifically by growing our team of Goldsmiths so that we are able to take on more bespoke commissions and reduce our lead times. It is proving difficult to find someone of the standard we require but we haven’t given up hope just yet! In addition to our workshop, we’d like to continue spreading the word about our award winning retail space and what we do at Fitzgerald Jewellers. We still get so many people, every day, who didn’t know we existed or didn’t know we had a workshop on the premises. We’d like to become the first jeweller people think of in the local area.

Can you explain why you decided to work with local charities, such as Porchlight?

Porchlight is a charity which is close to the heart of our team. It’s important to us that we support a charity with a mission statement that we feel passionately about. The truth of the matter is that homelessness isn’t a particularly glamorous topic but it affects so many people from every walk of life. We feel incredibly fortunate to have been able to meet some of the service users from Porchlight and understand directly how our support has made a difference to those lives. We’re really proud to have been one of the main corporate sponsors for Porchlight in their 25th year.

Why do you think it is important for businesses to support and get involved in charity work?

I think we have a certain amount of social responsibility as a business to get involved with charities. Homelessness, for example, is a prevalent topic in our local area and there’s no point hiding from it or pretending it’s not happening. We care strongly about our local community and therefore getting involved in charity work, shows our commitment to that. We’ve noticed that the younger members of our team are really passionate about our charity projects and it attracts new members to the team too. We have found great benefit in the networking opportunities from working with local charities, meeting other local businesses and new people who may not have heard about us before.

Are you planning on any more collaborations with charities in the future?

Most definitely. We’ll be celebrating our 25th anniversary in 2026 so we feel this will be the perfect opportunity to collaborate with a charity during such a pivotal year in our business. We have a few ideas so we’ll see what we can make come to fruition!

Why do you think using social media is becoming more important to use for retail businesses?

More and more people are heading straight to platforms such as Instagram to get quick, up-to-date, useful information about businesses. If you’re not showing up on those platforms regularly then you might be missing out on potential leads. It’s such a fantastic way of making quick contact with your customers and letting them know you’re there. We completely understand that social media feels like a chore but it doesn’t need to be. Make your business account more enjoyable and you’ll enjoy producing content for it.

Do you have any social media tips you can share?

Our biggest tip would be to keep it human. We are really proud to produce high quality imagery of products in house however nothing reaches our customers better than when we’re sharing images of ourselves. Whether that’s celebrating a shop milestone or someone’s birthday, the interaction on those posts is unbeatable. It’s those posts that customers come into the shop and actually recall during conversation with our colleagues. You’re building a community there, not just followers.

What do you enjoy most about being part of the CMJ?

It would have to be the fantastic community that the CMJ has created. Whether that’s on the Whatsapp groups or directly with suppliers, it feels like one big family that are always ready to help each other.

Would you recommend that other retailers should join the CMJ?

Absolutely. The benefits are wonderful for our business and make a real difference.