Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2006/January 2007 | Page 94

ISLAND BUSINESS

Superior
food in
village
setting
Like most of her
fellow
villagers,
mum-of-four
Jo
Moore was horrified when
Gurnard Post Office and store
closed down and planning
permission was granted for
change of use to a house.
So she promptly rolled up her
sleeves and took on the shop herself,
as the Two Fishes Delicatessen.
Since opening in April, the shop
has steadily built a reputation far
beyond the village for its range of
wonderful local produce and hardto-find English cheeses such as
Hereford Hop and Oxford Blue.
Jo also stocks local jams, puddings,
chutneys, fruit juices and even
Island-milled flour, along with pates
and other products from France.
For Christmas, as an ideal gift for
the hard-to-please person, she is
offering a range of hampers – either

From Newport
to the world!
Taking a business from
Newport town centre into
cyberspace was the best move
Elaine Harris and her husband
Pat have ever made.
ready-made or packed to order –
along with quirky gift ideas such as
chocolate board games.
Her winter offering will also
include take-away mugs of homemade soup along with the homemade quiches and cakes she bakes
with the help of her 16 year-old
daughter Effie.
Says Jo: “With four children
aged from 11-24, I’ve been a mum
for nearly 25 years which means
cooking has been a big part of my
life. That’s why I now put a great
emphasis on welcoming children
into the shop because it’s important
for them to know what good food is
all about”.
Two Fishes Delicatessen
3 Church Road, Gurnard
Tel: [phone]

Days Gone By had originally been
started in 1998 by Elaine’s sister
Joanna Smith, at a shop in Holyrood
Street, Newport. Full of toys, gifts
and houseware products with a
nostalgic edge, the business was
juggled by the two sisters around
the demands of their four children.
Finally, despite their success, it
all became too much and Joanna
decided to close – but handed over
the goodwill of the business to
Elaine as a kind of “redundancy
package” 
Helped by husband Pat on the
technical side, and with the web
design expertise of Liam Thom
at Island Web Services, and the
invaluable part time help from
Kathy Shepard, Elaine launched the
business online in April 2005 – and
has never looked back.
“It’s taken us completely by
surprise” says Elaine. “We now have
customers all over the world and it

has become a seven day-a-week job”.
The mail order business sells a
huge range of houseware, hardware,
kitchenware and gifts – and at
Christmas there is a wealth of gift
and stocking filler ideas, including
traditional wooden games and
clockwork tin toys
Many of the products are
reminiscent of bygone ages from
Victoriana to the 1970s – but Elaine
says the name of the business, Days
Gone By, relates just as much to the
good old-fashioned service it offers.
“Good service is so lacking out
there and people are often surprised
at the traditional, personal service
they get from us,” she says.
The business also offers carriagefree delivery in the UK, which Elaine
says is a way she passes on the
savings made by not having a retail
unit. For information, visit
www.daysgonebyshop.co.uk

Robin brings new life
to historic shop
With its original Victorian
cabinets and bell pulleys, the
interior of Shanklin Jewellers
conjures up a bygone era.
Established in 1880, this is in fact
the second oldest jewellers on the
Island – but the craftsmanship
offered by the new resident
goldsmith and jeweller Robin
Starkey is very much of the 21st
century.
Robin, who trained at the
Finnish precious metals company
Kultakeskus in Ascot and worked
on pieces for celebrities including
Ringo Starr and Diana Dors, has
been working as a goldsmith for

94

various companies on the Island for
the past nine years, but his aim was
always to set up his own business.
After the historic Shanklin
jewellers became available, he and
his partner Imogen Maguire decided
the time was right. – and no w she
is planning to begin training as a
gemmologist in January, in order
to become more involved in the
creative process.
Robin, who is registered with
the Sheffield Assay Office for his
hallmark, is now undertaking
commissions,
repairs,
stone
replacements and ring sizing as well
as producing one-off designs for
clients.

He also offers a rhodium
plating service and a ‘stone,
select and set’ service, which
allows customers to select
from a range of ready-made
ring mounts and choose any
colour or kind of stone to
be set into them by Robin,
including any price range of
diamonds.
The shop also stocks
platinum and diamond
pieces by Ungar and Ungar as well
as hand crafted bespoke silverware
by award winning designer Tara
Coomber, and a wide variety of
bronze animals, pewter giftware and
silver jewellery.

Shanklin Jewellers
69 High Street, Shanklin
Tel: [phone]

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