2022 in statistics:

• 2.3 million articles hallmarked
• 70,000 Platinum Jubilee commemorative marks applied - the largest quantity by any of the UK Assay Offices
• 70% of work received were Early Hall/ Next Day requests
• 9% of our total work was Display/Feature hallmarks
• 12% of our total work was “moderate” or “complex” requests which requires a disproportionate amount of marking capacity and time

2021 was our busiest year since 2014. For 2022 we forecast a similar quantity of work, but in fact, we were hallmarking more work in 2022 than we did in 2021.
 
Postal strikes, train strikes and this increased demand, led to longer lead times in the last half of the year.   December was particularly challenging in terms of turnaround, and we had to disappoint a handful of customers who were waiting for complex bespoke marks before Christmas. However, for the vast majority of packets, we hit our previously stated targets.  Thank you for your understanding while we responded to these challenges.

Post-pandemic we saw a shift towards priority services, due to the changing nature of the jewellery market, and in part due to our own lack of capacity.  We are currently recruiting and training staff and were doing so for most of the year. We have a new Technical and Quality Manager and a Process Development Engineer to look after our accreditations and help with our continuous improvement activities, and have appointed Deputy Production Managers across our main sites.  New production team members are being recruited in the coming weeks.

We are pleased that a Coronation commemorative mark has been approved, and that we have played a part in its creation. We look forward to 1st of March to begin applying the mark, and another busy year.

Thank you for your custom.