A NORTH-EAST jewellery company started by a motherand- daughter team is to open a store in London after national demand for its products.

Lebeado, which only opened its first store in Durham City in 2007, is planning to open the store during the summer.

The company, which is close to finalising a prominent location, has already been featured in international fashion magazine Vogue and appeared alongside a host of world-famous names including Ted Baker, Paul Costello and Jimmy Choo in a recent design event.

Its shops employing 15 people, which also includes a second branch in Jesmond, Newcastle opened in 2008, sell jewellery, make it to order, or allow customers to make it themselves with help from a bead artist.

Kate Watkin, 28, who gave up a job in marketing to start the company with her mother Jill, said: “We are going ahead with plans to open the London shop. It is really exciting. People have been coming to Durham from all over the country.

“There is nothing else like us available. There are bead shops all over the country but they don’t do it the way we do.

“We are craft orientated, but we are trying to update its image and make it a bit sexier and suited for the high street.”

The stores are set out like an old-fashioned sweet shop, with jars of beads.

They also carry a selection of pieces from international designers, which sit alongside those designed in-house, and up-and-coming local designers.

Miss Watkin said: “My immediate plan is to get the London store open and off the ground then take a breather.

“We are not doing it to make shedloads of money. I do it because I love it, but I think we will expand a little bit more if it goes well.

“Our plan is to open stores in all the old university towns.”

Lebeado was recently one of more than 50 designers invited to submit pieces for a London charity show and auction in aid of the Pirate Castle Charity, including Ted Baker, Paul Costello, Lynsey de Paul and Jimmy Choo.

Miss Watkin said: “For a North-East retailer to be recognised by the country’s top designers is just fantastic, and it’s a reward for the hard work of our incredible team.”