This is the latest in a regular series of Business Q&A features published weekly. This week, we spoke to Gordon Price, owner of Albion Craft Silversmiths in Masham.

Tell us in fewer than 30 words what your firm does.

I'm a silversmith, so I make all my own silverwork, and I'm a lapidarist, which means I cut and polish all my gemstones myself.

Many of these I've collected myself too, such as the Whitby jet, Derbyshire Blue John, and turquoise from a china clay mine in Cornwall.

Real turquoise sells for $1,000 an ounce. Most of the 'turquoise' you see in gem shops is actually a white stone called howlite, painted blue, so most people have never seen real turquoise. But you can in my shop.

I've also got dinosaur teeth from a phosphate mine in North Africa, and ammonites from Whitby, Devon, Madagascar and North America, as well as an extremely large, 200 million-year-old nautilus – about the size of a basketball. It will take quite a few months to get the surrounding rock off it.

What does it take to be successful in business?

A lot of hard work. Not many people understand how much hard work it takes.

It's no good selling what everybody else sells – you've got to have a point of difference. If I didn't make wedding rings or polish rocks, I couldn't make it work just by selling fossils.

The fossils attract people into the shop, and then they see my silverwork. The children and the men tend to carry on looking at the fossils, and the women look at the silver.

What drives you to do what you do every day?

Down in Lyme Regis many years ago, I found a rock and it rattled a bit, so I know there was an ammonite in it. Once I opened it up, though, I found a plesiosaur tooth embedded in the ammonite.

That's one of the things I love about this job – you can see things that have been hidden for 200 million years, and have never been seen by anyone before.

I've been interested in rocks and fossils since I was a kid, and once I was old enough to get a motorbike, I was out at every opportunity, looking for things down mines.

I worked as a lifeguard for Wakefield Council for 29 years, but had to give it up for health reasons. But by then, I had a good stock of fossils, so I got a shop in Masham, ran it for four years, then rented a room in the town hall. I've been in this shop since 2015.

I enjoy what I do. One couple came in and they hadn't been able to find wedding rings that fitted them properly. Anything that was big enough to go over their knuckles was too big once it got further down the finger.

So I made square rings for them. They fitted perfectly, and the couple went away very happy. I get real satisfaction from taking on tricky commissions like that. That couple was quite young, so they'll be wearing those rings long after I've gone.

What’s been the toughest issue your business has had to deal with over the last 12 months?

I still live in Wakefield, so I commute to Masham, and the travelling has got very expensive. Electricity has too. I was paying about £170 every three months, but now it's £115-120 every month. So I don't use the heating or hot water very much.

The stone-polishing process involves a lot of water, so my hands are often wet. I can only work at that machine for 10 minutes before my fingers get too cold.

Business is up and down. It was good when I first opened here, but lockdown killed it. It was a struggle, but I managed to survive. It's a bit better now, and easier in the summer.

Which other local firms do you most admire and why?

Uredale Glass in the Market Place. They make bowls and vases that are quite unique. They make all their own materials, and mix the glass into spirals and swirls.

Who are the most inspiring local leaders?

We don't have any. Masham Parish Council are awful to businesses. They don't have any regard for us.

If I had to pick anyone, I'd say the people at Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

What could be done locally to boost business?

They're doing it now. They've printed out a pamphlet listing all the businesses in Masham that can be handed out. That's very good.

The documentary Our Yorkshire Shop: A Victorian Restoration [about bringing a derelict grocer's shop in Masham back to life] has brought more people to Masham, which is good, but it would be nice if Channel 4 were to come and visit the other businesses here too.

Best and worst things about running a business from Masham?

The worst thing for me is the travelling from Wakefield and the cost of all the overheads.

The best thing is the people. People in Masham are fantastic. If it weren't for them I wouldn't have made it. They're the ones who kept me going through winter.

What are your business plans for the future?

I've got another three years till I retire. I don't want to retire – I like what I do, and if I could keep going, I probably would. It's a while off yet, so I'll worry about it when it comes.

What do you like to do in your time off?

Preparing fossils, mainly. Apart from that, there's alsways something to do – the dentist, the hospital, the shopping, gardening, mending things, taking the car for a service. Life!

Best places to eat and drink locally?

The Sandwich Box does the best bacon sandwich, just how I like it.

And in Masham, we've got Theakston's, so just about everywhere is good for a drink. I'm not a beer person, but I do like Old Peculier.

If you know someone in business in the Harrogate district – including Ripon, Knaresborough, Boroughbridge, Masham and Nidderdale – and you'd like to suggest them for this feature, drop us a line at contact@thestrayferret.co.uk.