A DIAMOND merchant has warned Brexit uncertainty and the weak pound are having a "massive" impact on the precious gems trade.

Roddy Sheridan, of Glasgow-based Blair and Sheridan, said it is already moving to mitigate the fall-out Britain's March departure from the EU will have on the UK trade's relationship with Antwerp, the heart of the European diamond trade.

In an exclusive interview with The Herald, Mr Sheridan said he is bidding to relocate some work through the more expensive London diamond trade but that some precious stones and pearls of the quality he requires can only be sourced from the Belgian hub.

He said the position of the pound is already affecting the firm's bottom line.

Sterling had been trading at above $1.50 before the referendum, and was at $1.29 on Friday. He said: "If we are buying diamonds in dollars and we are buying packaging and pearls in euros, for the pound to have gone from $1.50-ish down to $1.20 something is massive.

"We are having invoices that are tens of thousands of pounds - that's a massive significance."

The Herald:

Mr Sheridan, above, said: "We are actually giving a bit more business to London because there is a diamond trade down there and keeping it within the UK but it is more expensive in London.

"Antwerp is the hub of the diamond industry, that is where the best goods come from.

"There are concerns for us about how it is going to pan out."

He said customs delays for some non-EU diamond importers can be up to three days and costs connected to this type of stalled journey are expected to rise.

Mr Sheridan said there are inherent implications connected to transportation timings and routes when a business model is reliant on sourcing materials such as gem stones from the EU.

He said: "I know nobody can tell you how it is going to go, it is just the uncertainty.

"There doesn't seem to be any ideas, nobody is coming up with any solutions.

"I am generating more of a network in London to mitigate this."

Mr Sheridan added: "We are not as reliant on the packaging company that we use in Denmark, we actually sourced a supplier that is UK based.

"So we have done things like this. I still think on the precious stones and pearls side of it we might just need to put up with it.

"If we need a certain stone then we maybe just need to say to the customer there might be a delay in getting this but it is the right stone for you. That is more the kind of challenge.

"The positive spin is that you can export things if you've got a weaker pound, and that's okay if you are able to source things from pound sterling, but we can't if we're buying in US dollars or euros.

"Even the diamonds that are bought in the UK are all pegged against the US dollar."

The firm has been going nearly seven years and has seven staff.

He said: "It is about maintaining skills, hand-making jewellery is something that people want, they want to have that one-to-one service.

"We are a growing business, we are employing people, we've got an apprentice now with a view to taking on another one, and you can talk about what the banks are doing or what the big financial institutions are doing and how larger businesses are mitigating this but the reality is there are seven people in this business and all these things puts the pressure on because we don't know what we need to do to mitigate it.

"Our place is a real positive story and it has got the potential that it might be challenging after March 2019."