Olivia Burton Has Been Sold, But To Who?
As many of you may now know JLB Brands Ltd have decided to sell their UK watch brand Olivia Burton and it is has been big news for the last week. Everyone has been wanting to know the lowdown on who it was sold to and for how much…
The watch brand was snapped up by the American watchmaker Movado Group who brought Olivia Burton for a staggering £60m. JLB Brands Ltd was founded back in 2011 by duo Jemma Fennings and Lesa Bennett when they began selling their ladies fashion watch brand online and in authorised retailers around the UK. The watch brand grew incredibly fast and before long it had a host of retailers around the UK stocking the models and even selling out many of their stock.
Movado can now add Olivia Burton to their already impressive collection of watch brands: Movado, Concord, Ebel, esq Movado, Coach, Hugo Boss, Juicy Couture, Lacoste, Tommy Hilfiger, Scuderia Ferrari, Rebecaminkoff and Urminkoff. As it joins the ranks amongst some huge names in the watchmaking industry Movado is looking to the future wanting to use the Olivia Burton brand to push its sales this year through in store and online marketing avenues especially as Olivia Burton recently added jewellery to its array and is now shipping internationally.
Olivia Burton designs draw inspiration from a range of avenues including nature, vintage, chic and millennial fashion which is combines to create its stunning collections which include:
Personalised, Vegan Friendly, White Dial, Square Dial, Florals, Bee Everything, Mesh Watches, After Dark, English Garden, Signature Florals and Pretty Pastels. We are looking forward to many more from Olivia Burton under Movado Group as they currently launch a new collection every two months which is a tradition we are hoping they will continue.
Olivia Burton watches are sold throughout the UK by retailer such as John Lewis, Selfridges and Beaverbrooks and their last fiscal year ended them up 64% in increased revenue from March 31st last year.
Efraim Grinberg who is the CEO and Chairman of Movado Group confirmed to the public that Olivia Burton will remain under Jemma Fennings and Lesa Bennett from their London office with their current team.
“I have much admired the spectacular job that Lesa and Jemma have done in building the Olivia Burton brand in the UK over the last few years and more recently with the beginning of its international expansion,” said Grinberg.
“While at accessible price points, they have kept the brand extremely creative, innovative and aspirational. They’ve also been building a very strong e-commerce business in the UK, which we believe has great potential for global expansion. With this acquisition, we not only reaffirm our commitment to the watch category, but also expand our presence into fashion jewellery. Olivia Burton’s success under Lesa and Jemma’s direction prove that beautifully designed watches and jewellery can continue to excite today’s consumer.”
When asked to comment on the sale Jemma Fennings said “the sale of the business would give Olivia Burton the global scale and infrastructure required to support its vision for growth.”
she further stated:
“Movado Group shares our passion and relentless focus on innovation and this partnership will further strengthen the design of our watch and jewellery offerings and significantly increase our distribution around the world,”
Lesa Bennett, added:
“We are pleased that Olivia Burton will continue to operate with its current management team and employees, allowing the transaction to be seamless to our valued clients and business partners. We believe that Olivia Burton has tremendous opportunity for growth, and we look forward to becoming part of Movado Group to help the brand reach its potential.”
