FAMILY-run jewellers Fillans has announced plans to open a second shop in York.

The company, which bought York jewellers Hoppers, in Lendal, ten years ago, has been so successful in the city it has purchased a new premises in Stonegate, York.

The new shop, which will be called Fillans, is expected to open by the summer. It will sell contemporary design-led jewellery while Hoppers will continue to sell more traditional goods.

Managing director Richard Fillan said the shop would create up to three jobs in the short term and up to five in the long-term.

The jeweller has been based in Huddersfield for 150 years, and is run by the fifth generation of the same family.

Mr Fillan said the firm first decided to move to York when Hoppers was put up for sale, and it has not looked back since. He said: "York is a good place for us. It is not too far away and it is sufficiently different to Huddersfield. For the size of the city and the population, there is a lot of money spent in York."

While the firm is a traditional family business, it is not afraid to embrace technology.

Fillans was quick to install high- speed internet access in both its stores, and when the Stonegate shop opens all three outlets will be linked by a central database, containing data on both customers and stock.

In the future, staff at the York stores will be able to talk face-to-face with their colleagues in Huddersfield via video-conferencing.

Updated: 11:31 Tuesday, March 16, 2004