Bridlington jewellery academy nominated for national award makes 'hard work and sacrifices worthwhile'

Academy founder Derek Boyd is a second-generation watchmaker who spent most of his childhood 'tinkering' in his father's jewellery workshop.

The Jewellers Academy was founded by Derek Boyd, a Goldsmith and Swiss trained watch/clockmaker who has over 20 years worth of training.

In 2011, Mr Boyd relocated his retail jewellery business to the heart of Bridlington town centre - his plan was to restore the upper floors of his four storey building and create several state of the art workshops.

The academy’s launch had a rocky start, with Covid 19 locking down the country just when the business was about to launch.

The academy focuses on practical and theory-based courses relating to all jewellery industry trades, with an emphasis on quality workmanship to help to raise standards within the industry.

However, the business has been extremely successful, and in August 2022 the first two courses sold out within two hours of launch.

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The academy has now been recognised nationally, being nominated as 'Best Service Provider ' in the UK Jewellery Awards.

It has also been confirmed Italian giant 'Orotig S.p.A' have agreed to help create the first European laser training facility at the academy- a fantastic achievement for a new start.

Mr Boyd said: These past 12 months have been phenomenal and we could not have imagined how well things have worked out!

“Our training centre has a strong reputation of 'good workmanship'. We have some of the best instructors in the business, each of whom have experience in the industry which is so important.

“We are so excited about being shortlisted in the 'oscars of the jewellery industry'. Being recognised in the national awards for our quality of training and uniqueness of the academy has made all the hard work and sacrifices worthwhile.

“We will attend finals night in London in September and fingers crossed we will bring something back to Yorkshire!

“Moving forward we have had a lot of enquiries about evening jewellery making classes for the hobbyists, so we are currently putting a program together and these shall begin in September/October.”

“Lastly, we would like to thank all of the team, past and present, and all local tradespersons who helped to restore the building.

Visit https://thejewellersacademy.com/ or contact [email protected] for further information.