The six-generation family business launched in Hong Kong last August and has already seen sales soar. It was the firm’s first step outside of the UK in its 214-year history, worth the wait, according to Michael Wainwright, the firm’s director. “The new Hong Kong outlet has been a great success, in particular the Blossom collection. There is enormous demand for luxury Western jewellery, as demonstrated by the number of Western brands that have launched in Hong Kong in the last couple of years,” said Wainwright, a member of the family which acquired the original jeweler 100 years ago.

Wainwright and his team chose Lane Crawford, the upmarket shopping mall in Hong Kong’s central IFC building to exclusively stock Boodles jewels. 

The success of the new store has prompted Wainwright to consider its own standalone story in Hong Kong "in the near future" and other regions in Asia. “We are looking into Singapore as a possible future market.” Shanghai and Beijing may also be on the cards in future years, as China’s spending power snowballs. According to the latest Capgemini and Merrill Lynch World Wealth Report, 3.3 million millionaires now inhabit Asia-Pacific, surpassing Europe for the first time last year and catching up with the 3.4 million high net worth individuals in the US. 

Boodles’ bid to tap Asia’s cash-rich is, counter-intuitively, also leading to greater focus on its home market. A growing trend in ‘shopping tourism’ is seeing hoards of cash-rich Asian holiday-makers travelling in search of sterling or euro-denominated bargains. Chinese shoppers spend an estimated €12 to €15 billion (about $16 to $20 billion) while travelling, according to consultant Bain & Co, and account for more than 20 per cent of global consumption of luxury goods. Much of that spending happens in Europe where the euro and sterling have taken a battering in recent months. With this in mind, Boodles plans to invest heavily in its flagship store on Bond Street this year. “At home we've seen a growth in the number of sales to visiting overseas clients. Particularly those from China, Hong Kong and Thailand,” said Wainwright.

A competitive market

Wainwright is quick to admit that Boodles is by no means the first ultra-luxury jeweller to cash in on the lure of the East. The market is highly competitive, and Boodle's move came on the heels of London-based Graff Diamonds, famed for its ultra expensive gems and diamonds, announcing it would opt to list its shares in Hong Kong this year over the UK capital.

Meanwhile Switzerland’s Montblanc, known for its iconic pens, is changing tack to focus more on luxury watches in Asia – particularly in China. Here, wealthy consumers own an average of four expensive watches, according to The Hurun Report. This year Montblanc is set to open its largest ever outlet in Beijing, bringing the total number of boutiques to 421, 20 per cent of which are based in China.

Parisian and South African rivals Van Cleef & Arpels and De Beers have had a presence in the region for many years, and now attribute a substantial amount of their revenue to Asian buyers.

And now local players with their domestic advantage are challenging for market share. Chow Tai Fook Jewelry Group, the Hong Kong family-owned firm which focuses almost exclusively on Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, last month raised $2 billion in an initial public offering in Hong Kong – the territory’s third largest flotation of 2011. Although the float raised nearly $800 million less than hoped, the cash-injection will help with the company’s growth plans. Chow Tai Fook already has 1,500 points of sale and plans to grow these to 2,000 within the next four years. The company, which is more than twice the size of US-listed Tiffany & Co., is owned by Hong Kong’s fifth richest man, Cheung Yu-tung.

That luxury firms are turning their attentions East comes as no surprise. They are following the money. The growth rate of sales of luxury goods in Greater China (including Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan) grew by about 29 per cent last year to €23.5 billion, according to Bain & Co. This is still a fraction compared to the developed markets' appetite for luxury, with the US, Europe and Japan dominating the market. However consultant McKinsey believes there is room for growth and that the value of Chinese luxury could jump to $28 billion by 2015 - almost double the 2009 total. 

A family legacy

Analysts agree that Boodles is in the right place at the right time. While Europe and the US languish in a doom and gloom phase, said Scilla Huang Sun, fund manager, JB Luxury Brands Fund at Swiss & Global Asset Management, sentiment in Asia, where the majority of the demand for luxury products is coming from, is still positive due to better economic growth and less debt issues.

"Current volatility could be an opportune time for investors interested in luxury, as valuations for luxury stocks are finally starting to look cheap," she said in a report last year. "Demand for luxury products has been very strong and the secular trend of luxury remains intact. No matter how volatile short-tem financial markets are, the growing wealth and consumption in emerging countries is one of the big themes that will continue over the coming years. Luxury companies will benefit greatly from this trend," she added.

Defying the anaemic economic climate last year which saw many rivals struggling to hit targets, Boodles grew sales 15 per cent last year compared to 2010. Wainwright attributes much of the success of the company down to its strong family-ownership. Boodles was born Boodle and Dunthorpe in 1798, at the dawn of Liverpool’s golden age. The firm was bought by the Wainwright family in 1910 and today has nine stores.

“Being family-owned affects the business in a hugely positive way, both in terms of staff and customers,” he said. "Staff prefer working for a company where they know the management team will be roughly the same for the next 20 years. It breeds a culture of loyalty with our staff. there is no politics at manager or director level due to the culture of being a family business," he said.

"In terms of customers, I think they like buying from a family business. There is a personal touch that comes from a family business. We have got customers that have been with us for 30 years and I think they keep coming back as a result of the care and attention to detail a family business provides."

The directors include Michael and his brother, Nicholas Wainwright, Nicholas’ son, Jody Wainwright and Michael and Nicholas’ nephew, James Amos. Succession planning is part of their lives, and Wainwright says they are already organised to pass on the legacy.

“The family has found it easy to pass on the Boodles legacy, and the next generation, Nicholas's son Jody, and our nephew James, who have both been in the business for over ten years, are set to take over when that day arrives.”