Luxury London jeweller Vashi goes under

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Apr 6, 2023

We’re used to hearing plenty of success stories from the UK high-end jewellery market. But not for London-based luxury retailer Vashi, which has gone into liquidation. 

Its failure comes just months after it sought new funding at a valuation of £250 million, according to Sky News.

Insolvency practitioners from Teneo Restructuring were appointed this week as joint liquidators following the tabling of a winding-up petition by Canary Wharf Group, one of its retail landlords.

Vashi has been trading from four stores and is believed to employ about 200 people. The company was founded by Vashi Dominguez, who opened his first store on London's Piccadilly only as recently as 2016.

A property industry source said that Canary Wharf Group had been backed by more than dozen creditors in its winding-up petition. Another source said the appointment of liquidators implied there was insufficient funding in the business to enable it to trade through a conventional administration.

Last year, Vashi reportedly embarked on a £75 million fundraising which it said was to facilitate its expansion into the US. 

According to the company's website, its investors included “the founders and CEOs of major global brands, managing partners at private equity firms, and several family offices”.

It boasted that it had seen tenfold sales growth between 2016 and 2019 and had been ranked 26th in the 2019 Sunday Times list of Britain's fastest-growing private companies.

Vashi hasn’t commented on Sky News report.