Share Roundhay: Meet the brothers behind the 45-year-old Leeds jewellers who have had ‘many secrets to keep’

The owners of Share Jewellers in Roundhay, the brothers have been part of countless milestones for their Leeds customers - including engagements, graduation surprises and special birthdays.

Richard, 60, told the Yorkshire Evening Post: “It’s lovely to be part of every customer’s journey. We’re now getting visits from children of original customers and in some cases grandchildren of original customers. We’ve seen it all and we’ve had many secrets to keep.

“We’ve had customers parking a way away before they come in, in case someone spots their car at the jewellers and puts two and two together!”

David opened his first jewellers in Leeds city centre in 1977, with Richard following in his brother’s footsteps and opening his first shop in Barnsley in 1984. The pair merged businesses in 1989 and ran a number of jewellers across the North, before scaling back to one north Leeds store, which opened around 18 years ago.

The Street Lane shop, next to the Flying Pizza, offers one-of-a-kind, branded pieces of jewellery - including bracelets, charms, earrings, necklaces and engagement rings - as well as a range of homeware.

Richard said: “We’ve had very good support from the north Leeds community, particularly during the lockdown period, where there was a big move to shop local and support family businesses. We offered - and still do - same day delivery service within Leeds, click and collect and customer appointments. We’ve found that the word-of-mouth recommendation is very strong and that stands us in good stead.”

Many of the Share brothers’ customers have now become friends and the pair take great pleasure in bumping into customers in Leeds, who are often wearing jewellery they’ve designed, repaired or altered for them.

“That gives you a lot of encouragement and confidence,” Richard added. “We’ve got lots of one-off pieces that have been designed for us and we will often buy with specific customers in mind.

“We also create bespoke pieces for our customers. It’s absolutely fantastic when they have an idea in their head and we manage to get that from their head down onto a piece of paper.

“The look on the customer’s face when they finally receive that piece of own-designed jewellery is just fantastic. Jewellery tends to be a special occasion purchase. It all means so much and there’s lots of sentiment.”

It’s a challenging time for independent businesses as the cost of living crisis tightens purse, but Richard said the level of personal service, and the relationship they build with customers, is what sets small businesses apart.

“Every day is different,” Richard added. “From one day to the next can be so varied, we can go from buying diamonds and making them into a piece of jewellery, to ensuring we’ve got the right displays and colours in and checking that everything is working as it should be. I find that you can do 20/30 different tasks a day and you won’t repeat them for another week.

“You think after 45 years in the business you’ll have seen everything - but actually, something new tends to happen every day. We’re already looking forward to celebrating our 50th anniversary.”