Tony McDonough meets PETER WONG,director of Liverpool-based Wongs Jewellers

NOBODY wants to see how laws or sausages are made – so an old saying goes. Jewellery, however, is a different matter.

Liverpool-based Wongs Jewellers has established a reputation over the past 32 years for expertly crafting custom-made jewellery.

However, in the past year, the business has completed a metamorphosis from small back-street operator to swanky retailer.

Its premises in Whitechapel, in the city centre, are a picture of modernity as it positions itself alongside other illustrious Liverpool jewellery names such as Boodles and David M Robinson.

It completed the move from its previous cramped premises in nearby Rainford Square just over a year ago.

However, director Peter Wong has not only kept the business in touch with its roots – he has made a major selling point of it.

Customers in the stylish front- of-house area can watch through a window as skilled goldsmiths work “on the bench” creating the custom designs.

It has been a busy year for Wong, 40, who, as well as overseeing the transformation of the shop, has also celebrated, along with wife Francisca, the birth of their second child.

Daughter Lucia was born just over a month ago, weighing in at 6lb 10 ounces. The couple already have a son Thomas, three.

“Wongs is a family-run business that was started by my father in 1979, mainly as a workshop,” said Wong.

“However, now with the move to new premises, we are looking to up our game. Although we are still finding our feet, there is no doubt this has been a good move – there is plenty of room for expansion here.

“We had been looking for about three years for somewhere to move to as we had outgrown our old home in Rainford Square.

“We really wanted to start pushing the retail side of the business. In the old place, if you had more than five people in there, it felt packed.

“Now we have much more space and have been able to create a much more relaxed atmosphere.”

Wongs was established in the city 32 years ago by Brian and Susan Wong.

Peter Wong took over the running of the business in 2006, but his father can still be found in the workshop working alongside the other skilled craftsmen. Wife Susan also remains heavily involved.

And he emphasises that it is that mix of traditional and new that is the secret to the business’s success.

He added: “My parents are now at retirement age, but my father is still in the workshop three days a week.

“What happens in the workshop is what Wongs is all about – it is all done on site.

“Technology plays such a big part these days in the design, and that is where we have a big advantage.

“Other businesses have not kept up as well as we have. We use computers now to design the pieces, but it is the skill of the goldsmith that turns the cast into the final piece.”

Wong was born and brought up in Wallasey and attended Mosslands School.

In 1987, at the age of 16, he left school to work in the family business.

It was a move that had been long anticipated, but the young Wong was not entirely convinced at first.

“As a child, I was always interested in making things – I liked it much more than the academic side,” he said.

“I would spend time in the workshop. Obviously, at the age of 10, they weren’t going to let me loose on people’s jewellery, but I was able to help out.

“I started work properly there in the summer of 1987. I didn’t like it at first and wanted to go back to school.”

However, despite his initial misgivings, Wong soon knuckled down to learning his trade on the bench alongside his father and the other craftsmen.

“There is no real apprenticeship as such – no qualifications. You just learn everything on the job,” he added.

As Wong became more experienced, he took on more responsibility in the running of the business and saw the potential of the retail side.

He said: “Going back about six years ago, I could see how the retail element was getting bigger. We brought in a computerised system for stock control, but I could see, as the range of stock grew, the existing shop was getting quite cramped.”

And so the search began for new premises and 3,765 sq ft of space that was formerly occupied by iconic Liverpool fashion retailer Wade Smith, was identified as being ideal.

Wongs spent £200,000 on refurbishing the site to its exact specification, helped by a £150,000 loan from NatWest bank.

The new shop is strategically positioned between Grosvenor’s £1bn Liverpool One retail and leisure complex and the up-market Metquarter shopping mall, and now employs 11 people.

This ensures a good flow of footfall past the shop, and that could grow even more when US retailer Forever 21 opens its large outlet on the corner of Whitechapel and Church Street.

Wong said: “We spent our money on the refurbishment very carefully. The shop is now beautiful, but we have tried to do the fit-out in the most cost-effective way.

“Competition in Liverpool is quite strong and I think we are competing at the high end – with the likes of Boodles and David M Robinson.

“It is good we are so close to Liverpool One and the Metquarter. I’m not sure how many people buy on impulse when they pass a jewellery shop, but I think it is good to have this kind of presence.”

Wongs specialises in hand-made diamond wedding and engagement rings, but also offers a full range of other products which Wong is keen to expand.

People can now buy from the shop’s website for the first time.

“A lot of our month-on-month turnover comes from engagement rings – we have established a great reputation through word-of-mouth,” he said.

“We have just started to deal in pre-owned Rolex watches – I think it is important we sell quality watches.

“Our customer base goes from young people right up to those in their 60s and 70s.

“When the Forever 21 department store opens, that could bring us a whole new market.

“There is an adjoining retail unit that we could open up to sell more fashion-led brands.”

Despite his overall responsibility for running the business, there is nothing Wong likes better than getting out onto the shop floor to deal directly with the customers.

And despite the downturn afflicting the high street, he remains bullish about the prospects for the business.

He added: “The last year has been a big learning curve for me and we have made a lot of investment. It is quite daunting when you have to spend a lot of money on a new software package, for example, but then a few months later you wonder how you ever did without it.

“We have not really noticed the economic downturn too much – we anticipated higher costs with the move anyway.

“So I like to think we have ridden out the storm.”