Houlden Jewellers has officially announced that the founding director of the group, Stuart Laing, will be bringing forward his retirement date.
Laing was due to retire in June 2017, however, in light of his recent health scare, it has been agreed with the board of directors that he will now step down July 1 2016.
The infrastructure created within Houlden over the past 18 months allows him to retire earlier than initially planned with the full confidence for Houlden’s continued success.
Laing will continue to be available as a consultant to Houlden however his day to day business will continue as chairman of Laings of Glasgow where he will channel his considerable business experience.
A statement by Houlden says Laing feels the group is in an excellent position for the future with the Jewellers of Excellence and other ongoing projects. It also says Laing “has created a powerful group by growing the membership and bringing the best services to the top independent jewellers in the UK and Ireland. He has inspired and innovated the community of Jewellers of Excellence to keep them in tune with the industry. His passion, experience and knowledge will be difficult to replicate and he will always be a lasting part of the Houlden community”.
Laing has departed the group with the following words of wisdom for Houlden members: “The speed of change is accelerating, the trick for the member is to keep up with this pace…so get off the fence and take action.”
