Long-standing Worthing piercing studio sees upgrade under new owner

Flux Piercing Studio has been located in West Buildings since 2001, with Claire Jesse running it for more than 20 years before selling the business to her good friend Marnie Williams, known as Princess Marnie, about a year ago.

Manager Serena Mitchell has worked there for ten years and has always been keen to see the studio keeping up with the times, as upgrades in the piercing industry are constant.

Marnie said: "When I came in, we talked about how to bring the business forward. At 21, the shop was an adult now. There have been a lot of changes in the industry, too, so we have streamlined it and upgraded everything so we have only the best-quality jewellery that is UKAPP and APP approved in stock."

There have been subtle changes in the studio, with the shelves slightly less stocked than they used to be and a new glass-topped desk in reception, but the standards as high as ever.

Marnie grew up in the West Indies and then 'ran away to sea' to work as a purser on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. She came to Worthing when her son was born and, living up the road from the studio, soon made friends with Claire.

When Claire changed direction to concentrate on a food business in Wales, Marnie was the obvious choice to take over, with her experience in accounting and business management. Her creative skills lie in fused glass and some of her pieces are on sale in the studio.

There is an all-female team of five at Flux and Serena is in charge of training. Her passion for piercing shines through, along with her knowledge and care for the clients.

She said: "Claire was amazing but I wanted to bring the studio forward to a new standard. We wanted it to be the best it could be for our clients. We pierce with needles and have always used implant grade titanium but now we have changed to threadless jewellery, as it is not harmful."

Serena said her oldest client was a 91-year-old woman who wanted her nose pierced, now that she was a widow. She had wanted it for 30 years but her husband had been against it.

The youngest the studio will accept is six but only if the child themselves is happy with the piercing – even to the point they will stop at one ear rather than do a pair if the child changes their mind halfway through.Marnie said: "It is their choice. It is up to them what happens to their body. There are so many reasons why people get pierced. Sometimes it empowers them, or it allows them to close a door on something negative."

Piercings can be done pretty much anywhere on the body, as long as it is anatomically suitable for the person and will heal. Interestingly, naval piercings are one of the most sought after but also the one that is most often refused at Flux.

Serena explained: "You need a good, solid lip in the naval and not many people have that. We won't do it if we know it won't work."

Serena has found people are more understanding about body piercings these days and they are more accepted, although historically, they date back centuries.

She was inspired by tribal women she saw in pictures in the National Geographic Magazine growing up and has piercings including a 30mm stretched earlobe and 4mm stretched septum.

The whole team was elated to see Flux named Retailer of the Year at the recent Adur & Worthing Business Awards.

Marnie said: "This is such a huge accolade to the Fluxy Girls. It is not often that alternative people and business are included and celebrated on a mainstream stage, with our brightly-coloured hair, facial piercings and non-conforming clothing choices.

"Piercing over the years has been seen as an alternative lifestyle choice but times are changing and we are learning daily on the safe ways to protect body piercing choices. Here at Flux Piercing Studio we take our duty of care to our customers very seriously.

"We take pride on advising customers on anatomy choices and suggesting alternative piercings, depending on our individual bodies. Not everything is for everybody but everyone deserves to shine.

"We would like to use this opportunity as retail winner to push forward the message that while we are free to make our own choices, we need to research studios and ensure we are placing our trust in the hands of reputable piercers, concerned for our safety and advising us and our beautiful individual bodies on the best bling for us personally."

Visit fluxpiercing.co.uk for more information or find Flux Piercing Studio on Facebook.