Family jewellery firm is sold to German group
ABIRMINGHAM-BASED jewellery manufacturer has been sold to a German group after being run for 70 years by the same family.
WB The Creative Jewellery Group has been bought by Heimerle+Meule which is based near Stuttgart and specialises in precious metal trading.
Heimerle+Meule is part of the Possehl group which comprises more than 160 companies, operating in more than 30 different countries and is organised across nine separate divisions.
The sale includes all three businesses within the WB group – its precious jewellery brand Domino, the casting, 3D printing and bespoke manufacturing company Weston Beamor and the silver and fashion jewellery brand Gecko.
Founded in 1947 as a lost wax casting company, the group has become of the UK’s largest and most long-established jewellery manufacturers and currently employs around 180 staff across three bases – in the Jewellery Quarter, London and Essex.
Under the deal, all members of staff will retain their jobs with the business continuing to be run by the existing management team under the leadership of managing director Andrew Morton.
Joint chairman Patrick Fuller owned the business with his wife Vivian whose father founded the company.
Mr Fuller and I have said: “My wife Vivian enjoyed building the group together over the past 40 years to become a major player in the UK jewellery industry but it is now time for us to retire and hand over its further development to the very capable team who are already in place.
“We believe that, while the busi- ness will be entirely independent, operating within the same group as (Birmingham-based) Cookson Precious Metals and Possehl’s other precious metal companies will bring real advantages in the future.”
Mr Morton added: “There will undoubtedly be new opportunities for WB The Creative Jewellery Group as part of a sizeable global conglomerate and I too am very optimistic for the future.”
Heimerle+Meule’s chief executive Thomas Frey said: “We are delighted to have acquired such a successful UK-based jewellery company and believe that together we can help build a stronger UK jewellery industry.”
Springboard Corporate Finance and law firm Higgs & Sons advised WB on the deal.
Heimerle+Meule was law firm Mills & Reeve. advised by