THE opening of a new jewellers in Reigate will be a homecoming for some of the staff.
Yesterday (Wednesday) TH Baker opened its new store in Reigate High Street, once home to Lime Blue jewellers.
The new store will bring familiar faces back to the town, with three members of the staff having served in the store when it was Alexanders Jewellers between the late 1980s and 2008.
When Lime Blue, which took over the store from Alexanders, closed suddenly in March this year, Steve Hunt, TH Baker's southern region manager, spotted an opportunity to expand the family-run franchise.
As a former director of Alexanders he was familiar with the store and knew just where to look when it came to hiring a team to run the new shop.
"I know the shop very well," Mr Hunt told the Mirror.
"I wanted to bring back staff from the old Alexanders days and of course they know the shop and the area too."
He added: "The shop is ideal for us. This fits in just right for our portfolio." Manager Liz Simpson will work alongside assistant manager Alison Lackey – and both are returning to jobs they did when the store was run as Alexanders.
When Alexanders closed in 2008 and became Lime Blue, all the staff moved on to new jobs in the jewellery industry, but those returning say they are thrilled to be "coming home".
Mrs Simpson said: "It is really exciting. It is fantastic and the shop is going to look wonderful when it is finished.
"It is great to be working with a team I know some of."
She added: "Jewellery is a fairly close-knit little group, everyone knows each other, so when this shop came up and TH Baker bought it news spread quickly.
"It seemed such a wonderful opportunity to come back and it is slap bang in the middle of the High Street."
TH Baker has been established since the late 1880s and is now being run by the fifth generation of the founder's family. The firm employs around 360 staff at ten existing TH Baker and 14 Pandora and Swarovski shops across the country.
The new Reigate store will feature brands including Tag Heuer, Gucci and Links.
