ICAS ICAS logo

Quicklinks

  1. About Us

    Find out about who we are and what we do here at ICAS.

  2. Find a CA

    Search our directory of individual CAs and Member organisations by name, location and professional criteria.

  3. CA Magazine

    View the latest issues of the dedicated magazine for ICAS Chartered Accountants.

  4. Contact Us

    Get in touch with ICAS by phone, email or post, with dedicated contacts for Members, Students and firms.

Login
  • Annual renewal
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Find a CA
  1. About us
    1. Governance
  2. Members
    1. Become a member
    2. Newly qualified
    3. Manage my membership
    4. Benefits of membership
    5. Careers support
    6. Mentoring
    7. CA Wellbeing
    8. More for Members
    9. Area networks
    10. International communities
    11. Get involved
    12. Top Young CAs
    13. Career breaks
    14. ICAS podcast
    15. Newly admitted members 2022
    16. Newly admitted members 2023
  3. CA Students
    1. Student information
    2. Student resources
    3. Learning requirements
    4. Learning updates
    5. Learning blog
    6. Totum Pro | Student discount card
    7. CA Student wellbeing
  4. Become a CA
    1. How to become a CA
    2. Routes to becoming a CA
    3. CA Stories
    4. Find a training agreement
    5. Why become a CA
    6. Qualification information
    7. University exemptions
  5. Employers
    1. Become an Authorised Training Office
    2. Resources for Authorised Training Offices
    3. Professional entry
    4. Apprenticeships
  6. Find a CA
  7. ICAS events
    1. CA Summit
  8. CA magazine
  9. Insight
    1. Finance + Trust
    2. Finance + Technology
    3. Finance + EDI
    4. Finance + Mental Fitness
    5. Finance + Leadership
    6. Finance + Sustainability
  10. Professional resources
    1. Anti-money laundering
    2. Audit and assurance
    3. Brexit
    4. Business and governance
    5. Charities
    6. Coronavirus
    7. Corporate and financial reporting
    8. Cyber security
    9. Ethics
    10. Insolvency
    11. ICAS Research
    12. Pensions
    13. Practice
    14. Public sector
    15. Sustainability
    16. Tax
  11. CPD - professional development
    1. CPD courses and qualifications
    2. CPD news and updates
    3. CPD support and advice
  12. Regulation
    1. Complaints and sanctions
    2. Regulatory authorisations
    3. Guidance and help sheets
    4. Regulatory monitoring
  13. CA jobs
    1. CA jobs partner: Rutherford Cross
    2. Resources for your job search
    3. Advertise with CA jobs
    4. Hays | A Trusted ICAS CA Jobs Partner
    5. Azets | What's your ambition?
  14. Work at ICAS
    1. Business centres
    2. Meet our team
    3. Benefits
    4. Vacancies
    5. Imagine your career at ICAS
  15. Contact us
    1. Technical and regulation queries
    2. ICAS logo request

Watches of Switzerland CEO, Brian Duffy CA, shares how he kept business ticking through lockdown

  • LinkedIn (opens new window)
  • Twitter (opens new window)
By CA magazine

6 July 2022

Brian's career

Education: Studied accountancy at Glasgow University

1976: Qualifies as a CA; joins KPMG as Chartered Accountant

1980: Moves to Polaroid as Senior Financial Manager

1983: Joins Playtex as FD, later European FD, Worldwide CFO, then UK MD

1994: Made Pretty Polly/Sara Lee CFO, later Sara Lee Courtaulds CFO

2003: Appointed Group President, EMEA, of Ralph Lauren

2009: Becomes NED of Celtic FC

2014: Switches to Watches Of Switzerland Group as CEO

Watches of Switzerland kept things moving during the pandemic. CEO Brian Duffy CA explains how an expanding market, married to quick thinking and canny CRM, have helped to make recent years a time of rapid growth for the luxury retailer

Read July/August's CA magazine now

The luxury watch industry is one of the oldest in modern history. Like most businesses, the sector was not immune to the effects of the pandemic, but, thanks to some smart leadership, Watches of Switzerland Group was able to match – and even surpass – previous levels of success.

Brian Duffy CA, CEO of the British multi-brand retailer, is credited with leading the group’s pandemic recovery. One of the industry’s leading figureheads, the ICAS-trained leader has significant retail and international experience, and combines his training and financial acumen with a great understanding of the global luxury watch and jewellery sector.

And that market is certainly there for the taking. The company’s share price soared during the pandemic, pushing its market cap within sight of £2bn, around five times higher than in 2014, when Duffy was appointed CEO. “We’ve obviously grown hugely during that time and we’ve outperformed the market,” he told a packed room of luxury sector business leaders at the Walpole British Luxury Summit, held in central London in May. So what is behind the company’s robust results and successful growth?

According to Duffy, while luxury can be viewed as frivolous, when it comes to watches “you’re also buying products that can last forever, like family heirlooms. And these are products that maintain their value – certainly better than a handbag.” In short, watches are for a lifetime not a season – which puts the sector a step above other luxury industries such as fashion and cars. Citing the example of the famous advertisement for a Patek Philippe timepiece, he says: “You never actually own a Patek, you’re looking after it for the next generation.”

The key, he says, is “rational indulgence”. The list of reasons to invest in fine watches is long. “Everybody yearns for a beautiful watch or a beautiful piece of jewellery,” he says, adding that they’re a surefire conversation starter in both social and business settings. “I find, from experience, that everybody has an interest in, or curiosity about, watches. So that’s been our strategy and our conviction – that we should kind of reach out and stimulate that latent desire.”

Inclusivity sits at the heart of the retail experience, he insists: “We are non-judgemental about it – it’s very much an aspirational category. I think one of the mistakes that traditional retailers make is focusing on the high-end elite or tourism – both of which are important, but not to the exclusion of the broader market.”

Looking locally

During the pandemic, travel restrictions removed a key demographic for the luxury market – international visitors. As a consequence, Watches of Switzerland successfully pivoted its business to the domestic sector by using its customer relationship management (CRM) systems and analysing its database to better target customers.

“We thought, since everybody wants a watch, let’s stimulate them to let them know about new products that are around,” explains Duffy. “We had remote events, we empowered all our salespeople to present remotely. We gave them all licences on Zoom and taught them how to effectively engage clients.”

This ranged from setting up shots where the watch was shown correctly and properly lit to lessons in how to present virtually. Looking to the US, the firm opened in Hudson Yards, in the West of Manhattan, in March 2019. Despite having to close its doors when the pandemic hit in April 2020, by the summer, sales figures were up 25% year on year.

Duffy credits much of this success to the company’s CRM system. “People were quickly engaging in CRM, contacting clients, doing remote presentations and delivering… while we gave them all the systems and support they needed, the fundamental that drove it all was the energy and enthusiasm of the salespeople themselves.”

Though the pandemic was a concern for the bottom line, after looking at projections the management team knew they’d be okay from a liquidity standpoint. Their next priority was looking after people and giving them the assurance they were going to stay fully employed and fully paid. The team were also kept entertained with a “virtual pub”, online gigs and digital games. “It was really quite inspiring,” says Duffy.

“From a business point of view, the strength of our social media presence was hugely advantageous,” he adds. “We have a great online business that we got behind.” While some e-commerce businesses closed down due to social distancing concerns, Watches of Switzerland was in an advantageous position, with small products making packing and distribution more manageable. “At the end of it, we more than doubled our online business,” he says.

Personalised service

As a multi-brand retailer, Watches of Switzerland is valued by its consumers for its independence: their clients often come to them for trusted, impartial advice. During the pandemic, the business also thought on its feet to expand its offerings, including opening a virtual boutique run by Heathrow airport teams who were unable to work in store.

“We brought them into London and fully equipped them with headphones and computers and they became our virtual boutique,” Duffy says. “The conversion-to-sales ratio was 60 times [that of other ecommerce traffic]. We brought 20 [of the Heathrow staff] initially and now we are heading towards 50 – and that’s now a permanent part of what we do.”

Appointments are another new and permanent offering – Duffy reveals that Watches of Switzerland now conducts 40% of its business via appointments.

While the UK has the best luxury watch market in the world, Duffy says that there has been “a significant increase of interest in watches” in the US. Online media platforms covering watches and jewellery report that people are spending a lot more time researching and learning about different brands.

Another big change is that while watches have been traditionally regarded as a men’s market, there are now many more women buying mechanical watches. Similarly, while it’s often assumed that young people do not buy watches of any kind, preferring to rely on their phones, the data (which Duffy loves, and checks daily) suggests otherwise – the age of buyers is getting younger. “There’s a very vibrant, young audience,” he says, “particularly in the US. Young guys are the real experts, they have a real interest. Two weeks ago, we did an exclusive product with a $4.5k (£3,700) price point – we sold 100 of them in 24 hours. The appetite for quality watches definitely climbs in line with people’s knowledge of them.”

watches-of-switzerland.co.uk

Read July/August's CA magazine now

CA magazine: July/August 2022

By Sarah Speirs, ICAS Executive Director of Member Engagement and Communication

6 July 2022

Finance + Leadership

Explore our latest insights on personal and professional development for sound leadership. Leadership will be our focus theme throughout July…

2023-03-MarksElectrical 2023-03-MarksElectrical
ICAS logo

Footer links

  • Contact us
  • Terms and conditions
  • Modern slavery statement
  • Privacy notice
  • CA magazine

Connect with ICAS

  • Facebook (opens new window) Facebook Icon
  • Twitter (opens new window) Twitter Icon
  • LinkedIn (opens new window) LinkedIn Icon
  • Instagram (opens new window) Instagram Icon

ICAS is a member of the following bodies

  • Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (opens new window) Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies logo
  • Chartered Accountants Worldwide (opens new window) Chartered Accountants Worldwide logo
  • Global Accounting Alliance (opens new window) Global Accounting Alliance
  • International Federation of Accountants (opens new window) IFAC
  • Access Accountancy (opens new window) Access Acountancy

Charities

  • ICAS Foundation (opens new window) ICAS Foundation
  • SCABA (opens new window) scaba

Accreditations

  • ISO 9001 - RGB (opens new window)
© ICAS 2022

The mark and designation “CA” is a registered trade mark of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS), and is available for use in the UK and EU only to members of ICAS. If you are not a member of ICAS, you should not use the “CA” mark and designation in the UK or EU in relation to accountancy, tax or insolvency services. The mark and designation “Chartered Accountant” is a registered trade mark of ICAS, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales and Chartered Accountants Ireland. If you are not a member of one of these organisations, you should not use the “Chartered Accountant” mark and designation in the UK or EU in relation to these services. Further restrictions on the use of these marks also apply where you are a member.

ICAS logo

Our cookie policy

ICAS.com uses cookies which are essential for our website to work. We would also like to use analytical cookies to help us improve our website and your user experience. Any data collected is anonymised. Please have a look at the further information in our cookie policy and confirm if you are happy for us to use analytical cookies: