Jump to content

Watches of Switzerland

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Watches of Switzerland
Company typePublic limited company
IndustryWatches and jewellery
Founded1924
HeadquartersBraunstone, England, UK
Key people
Ian Carter, (Chairman)
Brian Duffy, (CEO)
RevenueDecrease £1,537.9 million (2024)[1]
Decrease £120.0 million (2024)[1]
Decrease £59.1 million (2024)[1]
Websitewww.thewosgroupplc.com

Watches of Switzerland is a British retailer of watches. The company headquarters is in Braunstone, England.[2] It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

History

[edit]

Watches of Switzerland was founded in Ludgate Hill in 1924.[3] During the late 1970s Theo Paphitis, the entrepreneur, worked as a sales assistant at the Bond Street Watches of Switzerland store in London.[4]

The business was acquired by Ratners in 1988[5] and then sold on to Asprey in 1992.[6][7] In December 1998, Mappin & Webb managing director, Judith Pilkington, acquired Watches of Switzerland from Asprey, together with Mappin & Webb.[8][9][10][11] Both companies were acquired by Baugur Group in November 2005.[10] Goldsmiths also came under the control of Baugur Group in 2007.[12][13]

The combined business (Watches of Switzerland, Mappin & Webb and Goldsmiths) was then bought by Landsbanki in 2009 before coming under the control of Apollo Global Management in 2013.[3] The company was briefly known as Aurum Holdings before re-branding itself as Watches of Switzerland in advance of an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange in May 2019.[3]

Operations

[edit]

The company operates 221 stores in the UK, US and Europe,[14] spread across the Watches of Switzerland, Mappin & Webb, Goldsmiths, Mayors and Betteridge brands. This includes 96 dedicated mono-brand boutiques in partnership with Rolex, Omega, TAG Heuer, Breitling, Tudor, Audemars Piguet, Seiko, Bulgari and Fope.[15]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c "Annual Report 2024" (PDF). Watches of Switzerland Group. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  2. ^ "Contact Us / Watches of Switzerland". Watches-of-switzerland.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-10-24.
  3. ^ a b c "Watches of Switzerland starts clock on London IPO plan". Evening Standard. 2 May 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  4. ^ "Enter the Dragon of balls, rubber and lingerie". This is London. 24 October 2007. Retrieved 21 July 2008.
  5. ^ Haapalainen, Valérie; Skog, Nan (1 February 2011). "Growth Strategies of Multinational Companies: the Jewelry Industry" (PDF). p. 53. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  6. ^ "Crown jewellers sold off for a princely pounds 250m". The Independent. 4 November 1995. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  7. ^ Asprey Annual Report and Accounts 1993. 31 March 1993 – via Companies House.
  8. ^ Nelson, Fraser (24 December 1998). "Piasecki in £48 million bid for Goldsmiths". The Times. p. 21.
  9. ^ "Royal jeweller sells two chains". BBC. 24 December 1998. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  10. ^ a b "Baugur buys £30m Mappin & Webb". The Telegraph. 13 November 2005. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  11. ^ "Royal jeweller sells two chains". BBC. 24 December 1998. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  12. ^ "Jurek Piasecki on building up Nuval". Watchpro. 14 May 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  13. ^ "Baugur to buy Goldsmiths shares from ousted boss". The Guardian. 14 October 2007. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  14. ^ "Watches of Switzerland confident of sales boost amid recovery in luxury market". Evening Standard. 3 September 2024. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  15. ^ "Watches of Switzerland". London Stock Exchange. Retrieved 9 October 2024.