The Stand was quietish on Monday afternoon at the Birmingham Show.  An unobtrusive character walked on and began browsing, refusing the offer of help from the sales staff.  It was only after about ten minutes of his examining all the products very carefully that I suddenly realised who he was.

It was John Munt, the jeweller from Haverfordwest I'd called on last in 1985 before passing over the area.  He's a lovely man and it was a joy to see such an old friend.  If it's any guide as to how much we've both aged, he didn't recognise me either!

"Are you making these lockets yourselves?", he asked.

"Yes" we replied.  "We've been making lockets for ten years now".  "What about these products over here?" he asked,  looking at a cabinet full of silver jewellery.  "We make those pieces on CNC computer-controlled machinery, which was originally used to make chain-making tools.  The designs are in the computer memory.  It cuts them out from sheet, making textures and shapes as we require."

"The thing is", said John,  "we still only think of you for making chain.  You told us that your chains wouldn't break when you first called on us in 1982, and I can honestly say that over 29 years, we still haven't had one back".

How I Offended Italian Pride

John reminded me of the story of my late father and me going to visit an Italian chain factory in 1981.  I said as an aside to the interpreter, that the trouble with Italian chains on sale in the UK is that so many of them break.  The interpreter didn't keep the remark to herself with the result that the owners were greatly offended!

The owners rushed off to the stock room and started pulling the chains.  It was embarrassing when the first two they looked at broke.  The reaction of the two owners was interesting.  When the third chain they tested didn't break, they triumphantly said "there you are!"

Was John Convinced?

Will John be buying things other than chain from Curteis this year, we wondered? The answer came when he returned to the Stand on Wednesday, and for the first time ever, bought things other than chain!

Other comments we received at the Show were from people who always assumed our prices were higher than other peoples', without ever actually checking beforehand.  They were surprised to find that we are so competitive.  They imagined a British manufacturer could not possibly compete, what with all that anti-British manufacturing propaganda we suffer from in the media.  These commenters bought from us too.

How Did The Show Go?

The results from the Show were good, but the buying came at the end.  People had a good look round this year before committing themselves.