Retirement for Morpeth shop owner Tony

Tony Osborne, who has thanked his loyal customers for their support, set-up the shop initially at 26 Bridge Street. It has been at 20 Bridge Street for the last 15 years.

His wife Julie has worked for the business and she is also retiring. However, the name of the shop and two of the long-term staff are being retained by the new owner – Deborah Green of Deborah Green Jewellers in the town.

Tony will provide support in the background.

He did his apprenticeship in London and started his business in Essex, then came a move to the North East with Julie being from Newcastle.

Tony said: “I was looking for available shop units around the North East and there was one in Morpeth, and the first time I came to see it and the town, I knew it was the place where I wanted to be based.

“Of course, there have been changes to how people shop since I opened the jewellers in Morpeth in 1989, but it’s always been a good trading town.

“It has a lot to offer, including many great independent businesses, so I think it has a strong future even though it has been a tough year because of Covid-19.

“The Sanderson Arcade development has helped to make Morpeth a popular shopping destination for people outside the town and we’ve had many people from across the North East in our shop.

“I feel it is the right time to retire and I’m looking forward to seeing the family on more occasions and having a few more holidays.

“However, I’ll miss interacting with our regular loyal customers. I thank them for their support over the years.”

He quickly joined the Morpeth Chamber of Trade after opening the shop and he was part of a committee that worked to raise funds for a town CCTV system. It was installed with 50 per cent of the money provided by local traders and the other 50 per cent from the then Castle Morpeth Borough Council.

Tony volunteered to be the head of the Chamber’s Morpeth Fair Day committee – initially for one year, but ended up in that position for 21 years.

He said: “It was mainly the same people on that committee during this period and we had some great times.”