More than 160 West Midlands workers have lost their jobs in the collapse of photographic company Doubletake Studios, it was revealed today.
They are among around 800 people across the country to be made redundant immediately as administrators move in to close the business down.
Doubletake employed 166 people at its site in Mary Ann Street in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, as well as 290 at Manchester, London and Southampton.
Another 350 people employed as contractors are also affected. While existing orders are being sent out, anyone owed money by Doubletake is warned they are unlikely to be repaid in full.
A tiny Worcestershire firm has beaten off worldwide competition to win the UK's biggest medals contract since the First World War - to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. Bromsgrove-based Worcestershire Medal Services have been awarded the £7 million order to supply medals to the armed forces, emergency services, prison staff and others celebrating next year's anniversary of the Queen's 60 years on the throne. And all the medals will be made in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter, with city-based Gladman and Norman working with two neighbouring firms - Toye, Kenning and Spencer and Thomas Fattorini - to supply 450,000 medals from February 6 next year, the anniversary of the Queen's accession."
Gladman and Norman owner Phil McDermott, who set up Worcestershire Medal Services with just £120 in 1988, said: “These medals will be worn from everyone from the Duke of Edinburgh down to the youngest soldier in the Army. It’s a fabulous story for the Jewellery Quarter.
A Birmingham jeweller and a colleague “fled for their lives” when masked raiders hijacked their car in a gems heist in London.
Manoj Kumar ran off in terror when the crooks blocked in his car and smashed the windows to get at a bag containing a haul of 22-carat gold jewellery before escaping in the vehicle.
The 38-year-old said his ordeal had left him considering his future in the jewellery trade.
“It was terrifying,” he said. “I ran for my life.
“We’re still in shock. Sitting in my office I try to be normal but then I have flashbacks about what happened.”
Mr Kumar, a director of Hockley-based Karishma Jewellers, said he could not be sure how much the stolen jewellery was worth but estimated it would easily run into six figures.
The attack happened as he and a colleague, who would not be named, left a shop in Southall, London, last Tuesday.
He recalled: “We were blocked in by a blue Vectra and then they started smashing the windows of my car.
“He was asking for the bag, the guy with me got out of the car and they tried to punch him in the face. He bent down and the punch hit him in the neck.
“He was OK but obviously shaken.
A Worcestershire company has beaten off international competition to produce the official medals to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.
Bromsgrove-based Worcestershire Medal Services (WMS) has been awarded a £7m contract.
Some 450,000 medals will be made in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter and mounted at the Bromsgrove factory.
They will be officially launched on 6 February, the anniversary of the Queen's accession.
Company owner Phil McDermott said: "This is real David and Goliath stuff, it's the biggest medals contract that has been put out by the government since the end of the First World War."
The contract was tendered across Europe, with the company successfully beating off competition from the Royal Mint among others.
Medal enthusiast Mr McDermott said he had started WMS in 1988 with just £120.
