Catch up on the latest episode of Made in Kent with Azaria Gayle.
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00:00Hello and welcome to Made in Kent, live on KMTV. I'm Azaria Gale and with Valentine's
00:27Day just around the corner, we'll be looking at everything from speed dating to unique
00:32handcrafted jewellery as we find out how everyone is getting ready for this day of love.
00:38But first, we took to Canterbury High Street to ask the residents how they'll be spending
00:43this special day and if they'll be spending at local businesses to celebrate it.
00:48We kind of tend to get each other some cute little presents and do dinner at home with
00:54some champagne.
00:55Like a meal or somewhere nice.
00:58Local activities.
00:59Yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:00Yeah, we don't really. And we've been together 33 years, so we must be doing something, right?
01:04I refuse. I will go out the day before or the day after because I just think it's a
01:09big consumerist con. You've got to show love every day, haven't you?
01:13We used to go more to restaurants, but now we spend it at home.
01:16I think we tend to do the chain meal deal, bottle of wine and all that sort of thing.
01:22Three courses type thing.
01:24I don't know, I think that finding really big corporate stuff for Valentine's Day isn't
01:27really special. It's already a commercial holiday, so then it makes it more commercial.
01:32So if you find something in a cute little charity shop or something for someone that
01:36you care about.
01:38You can buy a bunch of roses for a tenner on Valentine's Day for 50 quid, so yeah, it's
01:43a bit commercial.
01:44It's a bit funny to tell you a day when you say, oh, I love you or I do something.
01:50There seems to be some mixed opinions on how to celebrate Valentine's, if at all. But what
01:55does this mean for small businesses when shoppers choose them over larger retailers during the
02:00holidays? Hayley Glynn went and spoke with the owner of Izzy's Cakes, Bakes and Puddings
02:06to find out.
02:08Today I visited Izzy's Cakes, Bakes and Puddings in Bethesda to see how this small business
02:13owner navigates the impact of the Valentine's Day demand.
02:17I feel that being a small business can sometimes be quite, it can be hard maybe to get your
02:25work out there and to be noticed. And I would find that having that local support from people
02:35to buy from small businesses really helps to boost and to push them forward a little
02:42bit because obviously you don't, you won't get as much advertisement or advertising as
02:50some of the bigger businesses. So it's just about sort of sharing, sharing someone's work
02:55and you know, if you can buy from a small business, then definitely, you know, definitely
03:00do buy from a small business because we do need your help and we do need your support.
03:04So yeah.
03:06Izzy previously worked as an administrator and data clerk. She says even though she enjoyed
03:11her work, her heart has always belonged to the arts. It was her love of baking and creativity
03:18that pushed her into starting up her own business and pursuing a career in something she loves.
03:25No two business days are the same, particularly around holidays. So I asked her how holidays
03:31such as Valentine's Day impact her business and operations.
03:36So I think coming up to Valentine's Day, there's a lot of preparation involved. You know, you
03:40really have to think about what you think is going to sell. You have to think about
03:45what people would like, what's going to buy, what they're going to want to buy for Valentine's
03:48Day. So it's gifts and things. So I'd say it's a difficult one really. It's, it's, there's
03:58a lot of preparation, but also you gain lots of, you can potentially gain lots of new clients
04:02because you're advertising your work. And if people like your work and they buy a box
04:08of cookies or cupcakes and they like them, then they come back to you later for other,
04:15you know, celebration cakes or other things. So from that point of view, it can really
04:19benefit you and your business to, to do those sorts of things.
04:24Perfect. It's not bad for a first try. No, I think that was really good.
04:32Hayley Glynn for KMTV.
04:36Now from homemade cakes to handcrafted jewellery, some of the most common gift at Valentine's
04:41Day are usually chocolates, flowers and teddy bears. But how often are we giving something
04:48as personalised as custom jewellery? Well, Tim Forster went down to one local jeweller
04:55in Canterbury to find out what goes into making something so unique.
05:00Justin Richardson of Bespoke Fine Jewellers first opened their doors here in Canterbury
05:04in 2004. Over the past 20 years, Justin and the team have been designing and making unique
05:09and intricate pieces of jewellery from right here in their workshop. They've even had the
05:13occasional helping paw from Nutmeg.
05:17Well I started off by doing an old fashioned HND course at Art College in Rochester. Then
05:24when I finished there, I started working within the main kind of trade. And what I've always
05:30enjoyed doing is creating pieces. And so I decided to set the shop up in 2004.
05:38Well I'm a fairly local lad. I worked my way down through Kent. I live locally and Canterbury
05:44is the obvious choice in Kent. It's the largest city and the most interesting and probably
05:51the most diverse.
05:52Well we never know quite who are going to come in and what they'll want, which is part
05:56of the interest and the fun really. Maybe they want to create an engagement ring and
06:01they have maybe granny's old diamond ring and they want to use that diamond but create
06:08a new piece. And they'll have a rough idea of what they want. So we can then talk them
06:13through different pieces. We can show them pieces that we already have from stock to
06:18see exactly what kind of thing they want. We'll do some sketches, just some rough pencil
06:23sketches. We'll then go on to hand paint designs, usually two or three options based
06:31on what we've talked about, which will then give the customers a better idea of what they're
06:36going to get.
06:37One of the problems that Justin has run into in the past few months is the price of gold
06:41which has risen dramatically. As it does not affect customers' desire to have it within
06:46their designs, Justin must work extra hard in order to keep prices to a certain budget
06:51for his customers.
06:53It's about really creating one-off pieces and individual pieces and showing people what
06:59they can have. So really it's to give them options and open up their eyes and to see
07:05the possibilities and really to create their perfect dream piece. Often these pieces of
07:11jewellery are worn forever. They're worn for the total amount of their lives and then often
07:17then passed on to future generations. So you're starting off with bits of metal which
07:22really don't look very much and you're cutting and forming and casting and setting stones
07:28in them to create something that's very, very beautiful that will be around long after I'm
07:33gone.
07:34Well, when it comes to finding the perfect Valentine's Day gift, diamonds truly are forever.
07:39Tim Forster reporting for KMTV.
07:44And finally, if you're feeling left out with the festivities on this day all about love,
07:49why not try meeting someone new? Diamond Singles is a local events organiser who for the last
07:55two years have been hosting singles nights. And I'm joined in the studio with Julie Edinburgh,
08:01one of the co-founders. Thank you for joining me, Julie.
08:04Thank you so much for having me.
08:06Great. So my first question is what inspired you to start your own hosting events?
08:12So we are living in a world full of online socials and online dating. And we just felt
08:20that people are becoming very exhausted of online dating. It can be quite a let down.
08:27People are getting bored of it. So we wanted to create opportunities and events where people
08:32can come and meet other single people face to face in a safe, friendly and fun environment.
08:38Lovely. So do you tailor your events to specific holidays?
08:43No. So we run events throughout the year. Obviously, this week is Valentine's week and
08:49Valentine's Day is coming up. So we are hosting a Valentine's night in Canterbury.
08:53But we have events throughout the year. And the bigger holidays, of course, naturally,
08:58we will throw events for the single community. But yeah, it is usually throughout the year.
09:04Do you find that a wide range of people come to your events?
09:07Absolutely. We have all kinds of demographic turn up to our events. You know, we host age
09:14specific events as well. But yeah, our events are welcome to everybody who's single and
09:19wanting to meet somebody.
09:21Perfect. And what are your success stories?
09:24So we've had a lot of success stories, which is really exciting. So we've got a couple
09:28of very healthy relationships that have come out of some of our events, which is fantastic.
09:34So myself and my business partner are waiting for our first wedding invites. But yeah, it's
09:40been really, really fantastic. But we don't just promote the events purely to come and
09:45meet somebody to find, you know, love or the one. These are social events for singles.
09:51So people come along to find friendship, to expand their social network and to, you know,
09:57sometimes celebrate being single. It's not all about finding the one as lovely as that
10:03would be. It is very much a social event to build people's self-confidence. And if
10:08they happen to find somebody who they connect with, then that's just the cherry on the cake.
10:14Lovely. And my other question is, are there other activities at the event?
10:22Yes. So we hold singles nights, which is very much a party mixer vibe, if you like. But
10:30we do speed dating events. We're about to launch quiz nights. So at the events, there
10:36are little party games, dare I say, but really fun, exciting things, engaging things that
10:42people like to get involved in. So the singles nights, we have lock and key parties, which
10:49sounds a bit strange, but all the guys wear keys around their necks on a long lanyard
10:57and the ladies wear a padlock around their necks. And it's very much like an icebreaker
11:04to help people start conversation, you know, to say, hey, can I try and open your lock?
11:09And it really does go down so well. People love those little games. So we do have lots
11:15of little engaging mini introductions that we put on throughout the events.
11:21Thank you so much for joining me.
11:23Pleasure.
11:24You've been watching Made in Kent live on KMTV. There's more news made just for Kent
11:29throughout this evening. Don't forget, you can always keep up to date with the latest
11:34news across the county by logging into kmtv.co.uk. Thank you so much for joining me. I hope to
11:41see you soon. Have a lovely evening. Goodbye.
11:54Transcribed by https://otter.ai