Exclusive: An insight into Lily Arkwright’s European expansion

What is the history of the business? Launched in 2015 with a vision to offer consumers more, Lily Arkwright was designed to provide mined diamond alternatives to customers, offering more choice, better service and distinctive bridal jewellery. Why is Lily Arkwright planning to expand at this particular time? It’s really been a continual process over the years with steady sustainable growth whilst maintaining our high standards of craftsmanship and, above all, customer service. Specifically, what’s behind our current expansion plans? It’s really a two part answer, the first being demand. Our customers have been really receptive to our offering and service since inception and you reach these mini inflection points where you need to scale up to ensure we are able to continually deliver for our customers. Secondly, the opportunity. Everywhere we look we see huge opportunities and naturally we need to expand to take advantage of these. What do Lily Arkwright’s growth plans entail? We’ve recently increased our bespoke capabilities to capitalise on what is a really exciting sector right now. Customers increasingly want something unique and it’s important that we’re able to respond to these demands. We can’t rest on our laurels and we keep pushing ourselves to offer a quicker and more efficient service for our customers. Additionally it would be remiss not to mention the B word; it’s hard to fathom that it’s been 16 months since Brexit and we need to improve our service offering for our European clients on the continent. We’re really excited to announce we are expanding into Europe to help facilitate a quicker and seamless experience for our European customers. We still have to complete some of the formalities and expect to formally announce this during May. How will the expansion/hiring spree help the company’s long-term plans? Such expansion plans require more resources. Our new hires will really help us to continue offering the same amazing Lily Arkwright service to an expanding customer base. What growth has the company seen since its launch in 2015? The first few years offered exponential growth at huge multiples, and this eased into double digit growth rates as we really started to deliver on our earlier strategies. The years 2021 and 2022 have seen a marked increase in revenues as the business matures and we have a tremendously high customer retention rate with high repeat purchases. Growth is of course one of our main drivers. However, it’s really important that our growth is sustainable and can be managed whilst offering an exceptional service. What is Lily Arkwright’s 2021 roadmap for change? Our 2021 roadmap for change builds upon our initial three and five year plans since inception. Whilst many of the traits do repeat, we have really challenged ourselves within the 2021 roadmap to not only triple revenues within five years, but to hold ourselves more accountable for key deliveries. This includes several key website updates scheduled throughout this year, new product launches to build upon our popular lab diamond and moissanite engagement ring ranges, and last but not least our expansion into Europe. These are really only the tip of the iceberg and we're really keen to see these improvements help push Lily Arkwright forward. What ethical jewellery alternatives does Lily Arkwright offer and why is this important? We have a diverse range of mined diamond alternative engagement rings, including lab diamond and moissanite engagement rings. Our lab grown Chatham coloured gemstones range has also proved very popular in recent years as consumers opt for a little more bang for their buck. Although, to be completely transparent, we’re not against mined diamonds, it’s about choice. Offering the consumer alternatives is part of that journey. How does the company plan to promote ethical jewellery alternatives? Anyone who follows Lily Arkwright knows we’ve been banging this drum for a long time, we have a platform to educate and help consumers understand there’s viable alternative jewellery options available and we’ll continue to shout it from the rooftops. Where does the company hope to be in three years time? Whilst we do target set KPIs, we are not beholden to them. Nothing stifles excitement, innovation and change than a set of numbers on a spreadsheet. Put simply, we hope to build on our existing growth trajectory, continue to invest in our team, whilst executing our current roadmap for change. The last two years have really taught us to expect the unexpected and more importantly to enjoy what you do. If we can take this ethos forward we’ll continue to be part of countless special moments for decades to come.

Exclusive: An insight into Lily Arkwright’s European expansion

Following Lily Arkwright’s recent plans to increase staffing numbers amid its growth plans, managing director Philip Dawson gives Jewellery Focus the exclusive on its European expansion.

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