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A Day In The Life Of Aardvark Jewellery | Aardvark Jewellery
The first thing you ought to know about a working day at Aardvark is that we don’t all start at the same time.
Traditionally, workshops in the Jewellery Quarter would begin very early, usually around 6am and sometimes earlier. This gave setters, mounters and polishers a chance to work uninterrupted before the front-of-house team arrived with a thousand questions about orders. There’s also the obvious perk: start early, finish early. It’s been this way for many decades, and the same is true here.
Getting the practical work underway before the rest of the business wakes up gives us a solid start on the workload. By the time everyone else arrives, the workshop team already knows where things stand and what needs to take priority.
Early starts and the first coffee run
At 6am, the Jewellery Quarter is a peaceful place. The coffee shops aren’t open yet, so anyone in need of caffeine has to make do with our kitchen kettle. Around 8am, the rest of the team starts rolling in. The studio lights come on, laptops open and someone might head out on a coffee run.
The sales team’s first job is to tackle the mountain of customer emails that arrived while we were closed. Then it’s time to check appointment requests and make sure everything is ready for the day’s visitors, including those joining us for virtual appointments.
For the office team, the day might involve working on our brand-new website, scheduling social media posts, organising advertising budgets, or taking and editing photographs.
My current job is writing this blog post.
My job depends on what’s needed
As the owner, my role changes depending on what’s needed. Much of it comes down to making sure everything is running according to plan and jumping in wherever I can help.
The other big part is thinking about the future of the business. That means regular conversations with the team about what’s working, what isn’t and where we go next. It’s an approach that’s worked well for me so far.
Open doors, biscuits and the office soundtrack
We have an open-door approach to communication at Aardvark, so there’s plenty of moving between rooms to ask questions, catch up and talk things through. Biscuits and chocolates occasionally appear in the kitchen, depending on who’s feeling generous. During the recent heatwave, I did a Tesco run and filled the freezer with ice creams for everyone.
There’s usually music playing across the departments, with the genre depending on who’s in charge of Spotify. If Ben, our head of technology, has control, there’s a good chance the office TV will be playing a Boiler Room set or an Ibiza beach party.
I’d describe the atmosphere as relaxed and productive, although the occasional emergency keeps us on our toes. When something doesn’t go to plan, it’s all hands on deck until we’ve sorted it.
Lunchtime and flexible finishes
At lunchtime, some of the team head to one of the local cafés. I’ll usually join them unless I’m counting calories, in which case it’s plain chicken and rice for me. Living the dream.
After lunch, it’s home time for the workshop team. The rest of us usually finish between 3pm and 4pm, unless someone is working overtime.
I like to keep hours flexible. As long as the work gets done, and done well, I’m happy to give people flexibility over how they organise their day.
When we clock off
Occasionally, we’ll head to the local pub for a drink after work. For our annual summer night out or Christmas do, we tend to go a little bigger.
For our summer bash in July, I organised darts at the local pub, followed by a ride in a ridiculously long stretch Hummer limo. We spent an hour driving around, drinking champagne and blasting ’90s dance tunes before being dropped off at one of my favourite all-you-can-eat Chinese buffets.
Once we’d thoroughly stuffed ourselves, we moved on to some very “enthusiastic” karaoke and finished with drinks in the Gay Quarter.
There honestly isn’t a dull day at Aardvark. What could be better than spending your days working with shiny things, surrounded by people who make you smile?
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From the studio
Occasional letters about stones, settings, and what's on the bench.
