Elise Compson is the owner of her own boutique, By Elise, based in Yorkersgate, Malton.

Twenty years ago, Elise opened her first store in Tadcaster before opening an online shop in 2010 and venturing into wholesale with her own jewellery collection.

She said: “I was absolutely delighted that the Royal Collection was my first [wholesale] customer. I have travelled all around the country, even Milan and Vienna doing shows, meeting people and making friends with other independent businesses.”

Elise’s recent move to Malton will allow her business to grow and she is looking forward to making the new space her own.

“I absolutely love it,” she said.

“It has quite a bit more room so I am trying not to fill it too soon! It has two upper floors which I have ideas for.”

Elise likes to be involved in her business as much as possible, including spending time at her shop though she has enlisted the help from a familiar face on Malton’s high street.

“I like to be in the shop as much as possible. I am lucky to have part-time help from Ann, who most people will know from County Classics that used to be in Malton.”

Growing up in the Caribbean and Nigeria, Elise says she has been influenced by the colours and textures from those places. Her mother was also an artist and jewellery lover with her own successful business too.

She said: “As a teenager I started making and selling earrings to small boutiques. I was lucky to learn from my mother all about the retail trade and running your own business. My sister has a fine jewellery business in Hong Kong so much of our mother’s influence has been inherited.”

Elise believes that the key to her success is the passion for her work, the business and the love for the job itself.

“I was very happy to open [a shop] in Malton. It has been a great opportunity to reconnect with my old customers, welcome new ones and even customers from north and south have come up especially to see me. I get enormous satisfaction from seeing their enjoyment when they find just the right outfit or piece of jewellery.”

Through the pandemic, Elise says it was a “godsend” having an established online shop, which kept her going. She also spent time on the phone offering a personal service to her customers.

“My customers were fantastic and this was a huge help. I often spent more than an hour chatting to customers who might have been on their own or finding things hard.”

Elise loves being a local business, where she has “amazing support” and she believes in shopping local.

“We are so lucky in Malton that there are a lot of independent businesses which makes Malton a great place to come to shop, eat and spend the weekend.”