WHEN Richard Share set up his Barnsley jewellery business right in the middle of the miners' strike not many people would have bet a single carat on it surviving.

But the business continues to thrive and this year celebrates its pearl anniversary. So what's his secret?

Richard, who trained for five years at Beaverbrooks, said: "I'd like to think that we survive because of our flexibility, we have reinvented ourselves a few times as fashions have changed but some things have remained the same and we don't plan to change them.

"We pride ourselves on our customer relations and never say no if people ask us for a certain something we will always try to help them. We also believe that everyone should be treated equally well. Whether they call in for a watch battery or an expensive piece of jewellery."

The shop moved from Eldon Street to Cheapside in the precinct last November.

** The full story appears in the Barnsley Chronicle, dated August 29. **