This week our CEO, Ram Krishnna Rao, and our COO, Sukhi Jutla, were personally invited to visit the Assay office in Birmingham. During this trip, they discussed how to work together to better serve our retailers and provide them with the services they need.
This is an exciting next step in the continuing growth of the MarketOrders journey.
The Assay Office in Birmingham is the home of the UK hallmarking for precious metals including gold and silver.
When gold and silver jewellery products are shipped from the suppliers, it is the responsibility of the retailer to ensure they have adequate hallmarking.
This is where the Assay office comes in. They are an independent entity which was created from an Act of Parliament and is over 240 years old! Each piece of jewellery that is hallmarked undergoes thorough checks to ensure that the consumers are assured they are getting the right quality of products.
The assay office not only does hallmarking but also offers these services:
- Assaying, hallmarking & laser marking
- Analytical testing & quality assurance
- Diamond & tanzanite grading, pearl & coloured gemstone identification
- Jewellery, watch & silverware valuations
- Training, conferencing and heritage events
We got to have a behind the scenes tour but we couldn’t take any pictures for security reasons; so you will have to use your imagination!
Rest assured, the building is guarded day and night. There are plenty of measures in place with the thanks to the volume of gold and other precious metals that pass the doors on a daily basis.
This continues to be a fascinating industry and we also see many opportunities with how MarketOrders can work as a partner with the Assay office and also how we can digitise most of the processes. Stay tuned for more progress!
A special Thank You, to the Head of Business development Natalie and Marie.
Learn more here https://theassayoffice.com/