Berry's boss reveals why Yorkshire customers are snapping up expensive Swiss watches

Simon Walton realised that joining the family jewellery business wasn’t going to be an easy career option when his father warned him that it would take him 10 years to learn anything about the industry.

But he decided to ‘give it a go’ and, after intensive training at a Swiss jewellery college and guidance from his father, he fell in love with the luxury environment, the products and the clients.

Now, over 30 years later, the managing director of Leeds-based Berry’s and his father, chairman Jeffery Walton, are joined by his 19-year-old son Oliver as the company celebrates its 125th anniversary.

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“He realises he’s got a lot to learn but he’s listened to dinner conversations about jewellery for all his life and it’s always been a dream,” says Walton.

Simon Walton, managing director of Berry's jewellers. Picture: Bruce RollinsonSimon Walton, managing director of Berry's jewellers. Picture: Bruce Rollinson
Simon Walton, managing director of Berry's jewellers. Picture: Bruce Rollinson

It was probably inevitable that at least one of his three children would join the industry. Jewellery is also in the blood on his wife’s side of the family as the owners of Beaverbrooks.

“I married the competition,” Walton says. “But luckily she’s a psychotherapist otherwise it probably wouldn’t have worked. It was the talk of the jewellery trade 25 years ago.”

The £70m turnover Berry’s business has 10 stores, predominantly in Yorkshire, employing 115 people, and is one of the leading independent jewellers in the country.

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This year it is investing £3m in the growth of the business, including three more stores, creating 20-25 new jobs.

Jeffery Walton, Simon Walton and Oliver Walton. Three generations of the Berry's family business.Jeffery Walton, Simon Walton and Oliver Walton. Three generations of the Berry's family business.
Jeffery Walton, Simon Walton and Oliver Walton. Three generations of the Berry's family business.

Its customers range from young couples buying engagement rings to wealthy individuals willing to spend over £250,000 on a Swiss watch.

When Walton first joined Berry’s in the late 80s, about 70 per cent of sales was jewellery and 30 per cent watches. The company manufactures its own jewellery from a workshop above its flagship store on Albion Street in Leeds.

Over the last 10 years sales have swung the other way with luxury Swiss watches driving growth in the business.

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“People appreciate the mechanics of a Swiss watch. It’s a bit of a family heirloom, something to hand down generations, because they retain their value,” says Walton.

New stores for 2022 include a third shop in York, which will be dedicated to Swiss watch brand Patek Philipe, a Vacheron Constantin boutique in Leeds and an Omega store in Nottingham.

Maintaining good relationships with the watch brands is a huge part of the job and the reason why Berry’s has multiple shops in the same location. “I’m a politician,” Walton says. “Some brands like to sit next to others in the shops, some brands want to be on their own.

“It’s like having 18 ex-wives and lots of small children but we’re very blessed to be agents for the top Swiss watch brands.”

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He adds: “We’re opening what we call mono-brand boutiques - one shop dedicated to one brand. We don’t ever want dozens of shops. People buy from people and we like running it as a family business with those family values.”

Covid has accelerated the retail industry by three or four years, he says. About 10 per cent of Berry’s business is online sales and it has invested in its website during the pandemic.

“The UK is very advanced when it comes to buying expensive jewellery and watches online,” he says. “We’re very comfortable spending £5,000 - £10,000 on a product, which is quite remarkable.

“When someone said to me 10 years ago that people would buy an engagement ring they’d never seen online, I said it would never happen in a million years, but people do.”

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During lockdown, Berry’s was forced to become a purely online business with staff taking it in turns to go into stores, wrap the products and post online orders.

Rare Swiss watches delivered during this period drove sales in those quiet months.

“A lot of staff were selling things on their phones through WhatsApp or email. It’s remarkable how we managed to stay in touch with clients,” says Walton. “Sales were down by about 40 per cent in those closed months but it wasn’t the disaster we thought it would be.”

When businesses reopened after the third lockdown last April, Walton says he was taken aback by how busy his shops were again.

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“Some people were fed up and decided to treat themselves, other people weren’t spending money on going out or holidays so decided to buy themselves a watch or a piece of jewellery, and then other people saw the prices of watches increasing,” he says.

“The demand of certain brands far outstrips supply and people have seen it an investment. There are waiting lists for 10 years for some watches. It’s quite remarkable.”

Historic family businesses can often lead to conflict between family members but that doesn’t seem to have been the case at Berry’s, which was founded by Walton’s great grandfather in 1897. Not even when his father entered the business in the 60s as the son-in-law.

Walton says an ‘amazing working relationship’ with his father means there has never been any animosity in the business.

“We’re quite easy going people who put the business before us,” he says.

“We complement each other and I only hope that I have the relationship with my son that I’ve had with my father.”

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