A young woman with a hat-trick of first class degrees is following in her father’s footsteps in the jewellery business.

Yasmeen Sarwar Gonzalez, originally from Bradford, has just taken over as manager of Warren James Jewellery in Ipswich’s busy Tower Ramparts Shopping Centre.

The 29-year-old moved to Ipswich a couple of years ago after husband Lee, transferred to the area.

But Yasmeen’s qualifications were gained back home in Yorkshire where she picked up first class honours in a Foundation Degree in Work-based Learning and a B A Hons in Business Management at Bradford Unversity.

She then went on to gain her teaching qualifications at Huddersfield University where she was Student of the Year.

Yasmeen and her husband moved to the Ipswich area where she worked as a lecturer in beauty therapy at New Suffolk College in Ipswich before making the move to retail at the Body Shop in the town.

She said: “I have always had an entrepreneurial streak in me and had wanted to put my business qualifications to good use and within three months I was a supervisor at Body Shop and was then head-hunted by Warren James to manage the store in Tower Ramparts.

“It was a great opportunity to work for a fast-growing company and it runs in the family too - as my father had a jewellery business back home in Bradford so he’s very pleased too.

“It’s going very well and we have a good team here and we are doing very well. We are 36th in the UK in a Mother’s Day sales competition and second in the East Anglia region and we’re hoping that when all the final results are in we may have moved up.”

Warren James has been established as jewellery specialists since 1979 and with 150 stores nationwide, is one of the largest jewellery chains in the UK with an annual turnover of almost £60 million and profits of £17 million.

Mike Sorhaindo, Manager of Tower Ramparts Shopping Centre, said: “Warren James has been here for over ten years and has traded successfully through the recession.

“It’s good to have Yasmeen here and she clearly brings some special talents to the business while the store adds to the rich retail mix we have at what is a strong and vibrant shopping centre.”