Can you describe a typical day at McGowans?

The day begins with my team and I dressing our windows. This involves us neatly putting all our high value stock back in their places in the window.  With thorough detail, we will then straighten and correct the tidiness of our windows for our customers to enjoy. A typical day for me is to begin with a team brief which will include what tasks we have for the day which will include contacting clients, contacting our repair and recondition team with any requests we have to complete on said week.  We will set daily targets and look at positioning of our products in our displays and assess if there is something we can do more attractive for our customers or any potential need I will set out any training requirements for my team to ensure we are up to date on everything jewellery or repair related. I will have daily conversations with our other branches to find out about any exciting stock to arrive or any quality second hand pieces either of us have purchased.

What part of working at McGowans do you enjoy most?

I really enjoy working with our second hand stock as a lot of the time they are pieces that will be very unusual but also very high quality and many of them one off pieces I may never get to see again.  I love helping our customers bring old pieces that they may have inherited back to life or even redesigning pieces they don’t wear to something, so they can then wear and show off with pride thanks to our fantastic jewellery workshop.

Who or what keeps you motivated?

Of course being a retailer we have targets to achieve, but my biggest motivation is training my team to a very high level both for service and knowledge of jewellery.  I want my team to not only give exceptional customer care but also educate our clients about who we are as a company and why we sell what we sell.  Being a family company with many connections we can often cater for the unusual request both product or bespoke and we as a team are all very motivated to ensure all our customers get exactly what they came in for.

What is the most challenging aspect of your role?

The biggest challenge is for us to maintain new and unique not only to help us generate new and regular business but also to have a constant flow of unusual quality jewellery so our customers aren’t all wearing the same items.  Trends change so we must too.

How do you enjoy your spare time?

In my own time, I enjoy exploring new walks in and around the city.  We are blessed to have a beautiful beach promenade which is a very peaceful and picturesque place to walk in particular at sunrise.  I am a big football fan and follow Aberdeen and Aston Villa. I’m a country boy at heart originally from Aboyne where my family stay so I visit them often and love to spend time with my parents, sister and my amazing nephew. My girlfriend and I are both foodies and really enjoy cooking and having date nights at many of the exceptional restaurants in the city.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to work in the jewellery industry?

I have managed many retailers over 20 years and I would advise anyone interested in having a profession in jewellery to do it and take any chances to achieve any courses you can to maximise your knowledge.  Selling jewellery to a client means so much for them no matter if the item is £10 or £24,000, but if you can give exceptional service with genuine care and be able to educate the client about the product they are buying, you will experience a great feeling you that you don’t usually feel in most, if not all, other retailing environments.