A Largs man has ditched nuclear physics to run an online jewellery business which has customers as far away as Greenland.

It isn't exactly a normal career trajectory but Guenther Wurmbauer quit his job as a nuclear physicist to join his wife to help run their home-grown business after the couple moved their company, Idin Jewellery, online.

The 36 year old, originally from Austria, spent five years studying in university before becoming a nuclear physicist. When his job took him to the west of Scotland in 2010, his wife Jareeya struggled to find work and decided to sell jewellery online.

Sourcing products in the far east, the couple then used their home in Largs to store items and then began selling through their own website. They now sell a wide range of jewellery; from handcrafted wood and stone pieces to rhodium and gold plated items to customers in Scotland and around the world.

“The first couple of years were slow but steady,” Guenther explains. “Jareeya has a great sense of style and a real interest in getting new and interesting products. We initially started Idin Jewellery as a stopgap until she found more permanent work, but with two young children, the flexibility of running her own business became a real advantage.”

Guenther kept up his job as a nuclear physicist at Hunterston Power Station during the day and pitched in to help Jareeya with the business at night.

He said: “We got an offer to join Amazon Marketplace and haven’t looked back. Now 95% of our business comes through Amazon, it’s a huge part of what we do and has really helped the business. I have been able to leave my job at the power station and go full time with Idin Jewellery. “

Idin Jewellery is now one of thousands of Scottish businesses selling on Amazon Marketplace with an annual turnover to £150,000.

Guenther added: “Leaving work to go full time with our business was a great move. We have two children so any opportunity to spend more time with them is a good thing. At the same time, I love my job and even though I maybe work more hours than I did at the power plant, everything we do is for the family business so it’s worth it.”

“We're close enough to Glasgow and benefit from UK mainland postage costs. A big challenge for us was the speed of the internet here, but that has improved recently so we’re in a great position. Customers are coming to us on Amazon from all over the world. We’re pretty big in Greenland which is a nice surprise, but most of our sales come from Europe. Next up for us is possibly the Asian market. We have had a very early look at Japan, China and even India as areas to expand into, but we’re keeping our options open.

Asked for some top tips to any aspiring entrepreneurs in Largs., Guenther said: "I would say it’s key to have a clear business plan and be really committed to what you’re doing. We were lucky in that I had a good job and qualifications to fall back on if it didn’t work out, but fortunately for us it did and we’ve never looked back.”