I am sure you have already heard the good news!!

Thanks to overwhelming support from the industry, Hallmarking has been endorsed by the Red Tape Challenge. It has been singled out in the Government’s report as one of the “well designed and valuable regulations” that have widespread support and will therefore be retained in its existing form.

Minister for Business and Enterprise Mark Prisk has announced that “We are preserving good regulation, such as the hallmarking regime , for which there was strong support”.

The Birmingham Assay Office, inevitably, strongly believes that hallmarking is vital to protect the trade and the consumer and to maintain consumer confidence.

When we began our campaign to urge you all to respond to the Red Tape Challenge, our prime concern was that hallmarking should not be abolished by default because no one bothered to respond.

We need not have worried; we knew we had some loyal supporters out there but the level of the response and the quality of the comments has been quite overwhelming.

We are strong believers in the trade working together for its own good and the level of cooperation between the trade associations, trade press, buying groups and major retailers was extremely gratifying. There was an unprecedented joint response which carried significant weight and has resulted in the outcome which we believe to be right and proper – that independent UK hallmarking be retained in its existing rigorous form.

Thank you very much to all of you who took time to respond. Your support is truly appreciated.

If you want to read the full announcement from BIS you can find it by clicking here >

Michael Allchin
Chief Executive and Assay Master
The Birmingham Assay Office