A furlough side hustle has turned into a great business for jewellery fan

By Nicky Godding

26 April 2021

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Eight months of furlough last year was enough for Rebecca Gray, who decided to put her love of affordable contemporary jewellery to good use.

So rather than sit and eat cake and drink Prosecco like so many of us did, she put her time to much better use and launched Gray’s Jewellery & Co.

Having has spent years sourcing items from her travels around the world, she set up the business in November 2020 from her home in Dursley Gloucestershire.

As a small start-up in lockdown, and no real marketing budget, it was social media channels that helped her get the business known.

She said: “Having experience in finding special items for friends and family for gifts and helping them feel special gave me the confidence to set up my own company. I was getting extremely frustrated with fashionable jewellery being overpriced and not lasting well, and designer items just seemed out of reach. I wanted to find products that were well made and beautiful - but affordable, and so Gray’s Jewellery & Co was born.”

With four sisters, Rebecca wasn’t short of advice and input on choosing what pieces to sell. Rebecca said “We may be sisters but our taste in jewellery couldn’t be more different! One of us being a bling queen who believes more is more. Whilst my other sister prefers a dainty, classic approach, where less is more."

And this side hustle has become a bit more than that. Gray’s Jewellery & Co turned over £13,000 in sales in the first quarter of online trading and hit a new milestone of 1,000 orders this year after just a few months.

Offering a wide range of jewellery and handmade hair care accessories, some pieces are sourced complete but the company also reworks jewellery to make unique pieces and can also source bespoke pieces for customers.

Rebecca said, “It’s been extremely hard work but I’ve enjoyed every minute, I’m excited to continue to source new products and deliver exceptional customer service."

Have you got a successful furlough side hustle you'd like to tell us about? Contact our editor [email protected]

By Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe.

After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts.

She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.