Christopher Ward has been featured in a prestigious listing that recognises the top small- and medium-sized business exporters in the UK - and it's the only British watch brand to enter the inaugural
Sunday Times BT Business SME Export Track 100. The company, founded by British entrepreneurs Mike
France, Chris Ward and Peter Ellis, is ranked number 77 in the chart, published in May, with international sales of over £2.1m in 2014,
representing a three-fold upswing in just three years.
 |
| Left to right: Mike France, Chris Ward, Johannes Jahnke, Jorg Bader and Peter Ellis, photographed on the Greenwich Meridian Line on July 2, 2014 to mark the launch of Christopher Ward's in-house movement |
Christopher Ward celebrated a decade in business in 2014 –
a year that coincided with the launch of its own in-house watch movement, known
as Calibre SH21. That is a feat in itself. Back in 2004, the company has pioneered a radical new
business model as the world’s first pure-play online luxury watch brand, quickly
establishing a global reputation for Christopher Ward among watch
enthusiasts and collectors. The US is the single-largest export market, and the
business sells more mechanical watches than any other UK-based brand.
So what’s the secret? Mike France, one of the three
co-founders, explained the thinking behind the brand’s
creation: "We launched this British company in 2004 as a deliberate
innovation in the watch industry; a bold new approach focusing on the customer
in a way that the industry norm simply could not match. Since then we have
continually evolved the business, always with the customer at the heart of
everything we do.”
He continued: "In July 2014, in keeping with our
pioneering spirit, we stunned the watch industry when we created a merger with
our Swiss partner Synergies Horologères and the creation of our own in-house
movement Calibre SH21 - a move that, we believe, is the most significant
development in the history of British watchmaking in over 50 years. But right from the start, we've attracted an
international following and, today, our watches are shipped to over 100
countries around the world and it's interesting to note a global consistency in
the appeal of trends such as towards mechanical watches, smaller case sizes and
contemporary vintage. A key driver of our success is our unprecedented blend of
high quality and value, backed by the most comprehensive customer satisfaction
guarantees we can find in the industry. Across the globe, increasing numbers of
customers have responded to that ethos and, by keeping that focus pinpointed on
the customer, we are determined to continue to grow our business.”
Co-founder Peter Ellis commented: "The momentum of
international sales growth has continued into the first quarter of 2015 with
sales growing by 45% and Calibre SH21 opens opportunities for further growth of
the brand as it effectively secures a robust supply chain in a market where the
availability of components is largely controlled by a handful of the largest
manufacturers in Swiss watchmaking."
All design work is centred at the brand’s UK
headquarters, in Maidenhead, Berkshire, while production is carried out at the
company’s own atelier in Biel, Switzerland under the direction of Jorg Bader
and its own master watchmaker Johannes Jahnke.
In a further international expansion, the first overseas
showroom for Christopher Ward was opened in the US city of Nashua in New
Hampshire in November 2014, to address the needs of the brand’s largest export
market.
The brand’s top 10 markets outside the UK and US are (in
order): Australia, Canada, Singapore, France, Finland, Hong Kong, Russia, UAE, Germany,
and the Netherlands/Ireland in equal 10th place.
Congratulations to the team at Christopher Ward. Per ardua
ad astra!
