Search Stories by:

and/or

News

At this year’s International Jewellery Fair in Sydney, a new awards program was debuted, which organisers are hoping will become a staple of the industry for years to come.

2025 Sydney Fair: And the winner is...

Posted August 26, 2025 | By Samuel Ord

At this year’s International Jewellery Fair in Sydney, a new awards program was debuted, which organisers are hoping will become a staple of the industry for years to come.

On the opening day of the Sydney Fair, Retail Edge Consultants launched the Business Excellence Awards. The competition was sponsored by Expertise Events, Zeller, Picup Media, and Jeweller.

The winner of the grand prize – the Store of the Year Award – was Springfield Jewellers in Queensland, narrowly leading Robert Cliff Master Jewellers (New South Wales) and Suzy’s Fine Jewellery (Victoria).

Every member of Retail Edge’s Business Coaching program was entered into the awards, with finalists announced in late July. The initiative was spearheaded by business development manager Kim Ridley, who told Jeweller that the inaugural edition was a rousing success.

“We might have been three years ahead of schedule with the awards, but based on the success of so many of our coaching clients, we felt that it was the right time to start celebrating these achievements,” she said.

“The response from the retailers was quite overwhelming. We had one retailer who was in tears when she was announced as a finalist, and she jokingly told us that she hadn’t won any awards since year eight in high school.”

Kim Ridley, Business development manager at Retail Edge Consultants

"Business coaching is about learning to be so much more than just a jeweller. All of the finalists have done an outstanding job of expanding and managing their businesses."

Kim Ridley, Retail Edge

Ridley continued: “Business coaching is about learning to be so much more than just a jeweller. All of the finalists have done an outstanding job of expanding and managing their businesses.”

Perhaps what was most impressive about the launch of the business awards was the specific criteria applied to each category, as explained by business coach Malcolm Scrymgeour. Each award was determined by pragmatic factors within the business, for example, an increase in sales and profit from year to year.

As each finalist was announced, Scrymgeour provided an insightful history of the business and its owner, and it was clear that these details encouraged discussion among the crowd. Retailers who were unfamiliar with one another were quick to make introductions between announcements, and Ridley said this was the driving motivation behind the awards.

“For so many jewellery businesses, the jeweller is the business. Without the owner, the business cannot operate on its own. Business coaching helps jewellers see the forest from the trees,” she explained.

“A coach is someone who looks at the business without any emotion – there’s only facts and figures – and helps jewellers make concise decisions.

“We’ve been increasingly focused on connecting jewellers within the coaching program so that they can learn from each other, and I think the awards achieved that aim.

Ridley added: “It was fitting that we held the event at the Sydney Fair, because the level of business development we celebrated also benefits suppliers. These jewellery businesses have all become better buyers as a result of their development, and that reflects in their interactions at the show with exhibitors.”