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LAW<br />
Sintons<br />
BCHARMD EXPANDS INTO<br />
CENTRAL ARCADE<br />
A luxury jewellery business has opened a flagship store in Newcastle with help<br />
from law firm Sintons<br />
Bcharmd, which started life on a<br />
market stall and now retails across<br />
the world, has opened a new flagship<br />
store in one of central Newcastle’s<br />
most prestigious shopping areas.<br />
Since being founded in 2009, the jewellery<br />
has grown from its original home in Tynemouth<br />
Market to be sold in more than 500 top<br />
department stores and boutiques across the<br />
world and attracts customers from as far afield as<br />
Australia and Canada through its online platforms.<br />
After occupying premises in Newcastle’s<br />
Shakespeare Street for the past four years,<br />
Bcharmd has now moved its boutique into a new<br />
unit in Central Arcade, an Edwardian shopping<br />
mall regarded as one of the city’s most sought-after<br />
locations.<br />
The business – which is retaining its previous<br />
home as its headquarters and design studio – now<br />
employs nine people and is poised for further<br />
growth after significant investment in its revamped<br />
bcharmd.com website and digital offering.<br />
Founded by fashion designer Stephanie<br />
Milburn, Bcharmd produces a range of jewellery<br />
made from semi-precious stones. Stephanie, who<br />
is creative director of the business, continues to<br />
hand-make the prototypes of each design, and<br />
her husband Lee heads the commercial arm of<br />
Bcharmd.<br />
Stephanie says: “We have grown so much since<br />
the days when I would be out in all weathers<br />
at Tynemouth Market, making every piece of<br />
jewellery myself, working every minute that I had<br />
to make a success of the business I gave up my job<br />
for – in the last few years, it’s taken on a life of its<br />
own.<br />
“We are now stocked by more than 500 high<br />
end luxury stores across the world and have a very<br />
loyal customer base locally and internationally too.<br />
“We reached the point where we were so tight<br />
on space in Shakespeare Street, it made sense to<br />
move the boutique elsewhere. I couldn’t think<br />
of a better place for us than Central Arcade. We<br />
aren’t really suited to being on a high street or in a<br />
traditional shopping centre, so this is ideal for us.<br />
“It’s a really exciting time for all of us at<br />
Bcharmd. As well as the relaunch of the website<br />
and the opening of our new boutique, we continue<br />
to break into new parts of the world and secure<br />
new luxury stockists. We are a very proud North<br />
East business and it’s perfect that we can operate<br />
internationally from where it all began.”<br />
The opening of the new Bcharmd boutique was<br />
supported by Newcastle law firm Sintons, who<br />
handled the commercial property work.<br />
Cheryl Ball, solicitor in Sintons’ Real Estate<br />
team, said: “From starting out as a sparetime<br />
hobby for Stephanie, her hard work and<br />
determination to succeed has seen Bcharmd<br />
become one of the leading fashion jewellery<br />
brands in the UK. Bcharmd is a true North East<br />
success story and we hope its new flagship store in<br />
Central Arcade helps them to continue on its path<br />
of strong growth.”<br />
i<br />
SINTONS<br />
www.sintons.co.uk<br />
@SintonsLaw<br />
49
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