Still time for luxuries

WATCH AND JEWELLERY RETAILER’S SALES RISING

BIG spenders are continuing to splash out on expensive watches and jewellery.

Luxury retailer Watches of Switzerland estimated revenues of between £1.45 and £1.5 billion over the current trading year.

It comes on the back of results for the year to May 1, which showed turnover up 40 per to £1.24 billion and a doubling of pre-tax profits to £126 million.

The business said that it believed the strength of the luxury watch market, with demand outstripping supply, together with its strong business model, would continue to support “sustainable strong sales growth”.

Watches of Switzerland, which is based in Leicestershire, is the UK’s biggest luxury watch retailer and includes the Mappin and Webb and Goldsmiths brands in the UK and Mayors and Betteridge in the US, where sales now make up a third of its turnover.

Chief executive Brian Duffy said: “This has been a tremendous year for the group, producing record sales and profits.

“It is particularly pleasing to have delivered this performance against such strong prior year comparatives, with the expertise and dedication of my colleagues proving invaluable.

“We are undoubtedly operating in a growing segment, but it is our distinctive and proven business model, the strength of our brand partnerships, our international scale, our bold marketing campaigns and our dedication to client service which sets us apart.

“Taken together, these inherent strengths have seen us attract new consumers and continuously gain market share, strengthening our position as the destination for luxury watches and luxury jewellery.

“Our sustained capital investment has continued to support our growth plans.

“We have seen a strong performance from our recently opened and refurbished showrooms in the UK and US, and we have big plans for our European business.

“In addition, I am pleased that, a year on from launch, we have donated £4.5 million to The Watches of Switzerland Group Foundation, in order to support the communities in which we operate.

“We enter FY23 with strong momentum with consumer demand continuing to outpace supply, and within this environment, we are benefitting from our strength both in showrooms and online.

“Watches of Switzerland is uniquely positioned within a large and growing market, and we look to the future with confidence.”