A businessman is in the process of buying a town centre building that has been home to a 225-year-old jewellery firm – and plans to keep it as a jewellers.

Cornell & Sons, in Gabriel's Hill, Maidstone, announced last week it will be shutting its doors after it sells all its stock.

The Grade II-listed building, between Atilla kebab house and Gem Antiques, is in the final stages of being purchased by the owner of Blackwell Jewellers, James Marsh.

He intends to open a Maidstone branch there – and it will carry his company's name.

Learning the trade as an apprentice when he was 16, James spent years training in the traditional methods of jewellery making before opening his own business.

He said: "Everything was handmade in the 70s. I left when I was 28 to start my own workshop in Swanley. I was doing trade work for other shops and doing repairs.

"It kind of just grew from there. I employed another person and from there I started my first shop in Gravesend."

The 48-year-old already has stores in the High Street, Gravesend, and Broadway, Bexleyheath. This new investment in Maidstone will be James' third shop.

He added that being able to buy the building was a dream come true.

"We have huge plans to keep the tradition of the shop alive, while also injecting some modern jewellery into the mix," he said.

"When we heard it was closing and that the building had come on the market, we knew we had to act fast to preserve this historic shop and maintain Maidstone’s reputation as a top destination for jewellery lovers.

"People want to come out to the shops and I want to create that experience. They do not want to just go on Amazon and order it so it just turns up. They want to come to a shop.

"It is going to be quite exciting. We are all really looking forward to it. I am nervous as it is a big deal opening up a new shop."

He also confirmed he will be keeping some of the current staff members on so there will be some familiar faces for returning customers.

Blackwells offers a variety of services including bespoke, handmade accessories, repairs, hallmark creations, including making gold accents for designer clothes and shoes, and a cash for gold scheme.

James added: "We buy with the intention to re-use and sell it on rather than melt it down so it is lost forever. Not many other places do that."

He hopes to open his jewellers in February and will be running a competition ahead of opening for customers to win a bespoke, handmade £5,000 ring in time for Valentines Day.

Cornell's, which opened in 1796, is shutting after owners Andrew Putley and Stewart Cook decided to retire.

It comes after the landlord put the iconic landmark on the market for £500,000.