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Following the decision made by the British Hallmarking Council to authorise Assay Offices, in certain circumstances, to assay and mark products on sites away from the main Office, the first Sub-Office at a jewellery manufacturer's operating under the new system was opened on 1st August 2002 in the premises of Curteis Ltd., at Ellesmere, Shropshire.

This Sub-Office is subject to very strict criteria and is operating to all intents and purposes as an extension of the main Office. The British Hallmarking Council approved the setting up of such Sub-Offices following a pilot operation carried out on the premises of Carrs of Sheffield, silverware manufacturers.

Curteis Ltd. produces a variety of items - mainly designs of chains, lockets etc. - and exports to many parts of the world and has distribution companies in the United States, Canada and Japan. It makes well over a quarter of a million items yearly which is the minimum requirement for making the  installation of a Sub-Office viable. The Birmingham Assay Office has been responsible for setting up the on-site facility and supplying all the necessary sampling and marking equipment. It will be responsible, through the full-time Assay Office staff employed on site, for ensuring that all articles produced by Curteis are correctly sampled and marked in exactly the same way as they would be at the central Assay Office. A live web-cam link is constantly maintained between the Sub-Office and the main Assay Office.

Ray Kenna, Finance Director of Curteis Ltd is seen here with two of the Sub-Office production operatives, Tracey Grant and Fiona Egerton.

Samples are taken from the products
and these are sent each night by courier or registered post to the Assay Office in Birmingham for assay and testing. The results of these tests are then reported back to the Sub-Office personnel on site, and provided they have reached the minimum requirement, hallmarking can take place. Only the Assay Office personnel on-site have access to the hallmarking punches and authority to undertake the hallmarking itself.

Birmingham Assay Office is accredited by UKAS ISO17025, the Sub-Office will also become accredited to in due course.

Henry Curteis, Managing Director of Curteis, said When we decided to consider to apply for the setting up of a Sub-Office within our premises, it was not for the financial possibilities that it would bring. The initial setting up costs and the general manning costs will not show much saving - but the main advantage will be to have the ability to shorten the throughput time for our products from manufacture to the final consumer. We have always been pleased with the service we have received from the Birmingham Assay Office. Under this new arrangement there will be even closer co-operation for the benefit of all our customers and ultimately members of the public themselves.

Michael Allchin, Assay Master at Birmingham, said Curteis Ltd. are one of our larger manufacturing clients in the U.K. and we believe that this new facility will assist them in shortening their lead times and improving the service to their customers. We look forward to helping them achieve this goal.

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