Testimonials

Bringing Whitehouse on board was the best decision I made during the first steps in preparation for my retirement. From my first conversation with Karl, it was clear I was in expert hands. His team approached the process with a rare blend of sensitivity, professionalism, and structure—turning what could have been a stressful experience into something I could manage with confidence.

They handled everything with care and precision, and thanks to their guidance, our closing down sale didn’t just meet expectations—it exceeded them. I was able to conclude my time in retail with pride, and that’s a gift I’ll always be thankful for.I couldn’t recommend them more highly

Closing our shop after so many years was a big moment, and we couldn’t have asked for a better team to help us through it. Whitehouse made the whole process smooth, professional, and surprisingly uplifting.

Karl led the charge—his charm and sophistication personified. We were astounded by the success of the sale and how everything was handled. The team were fantastic, and the whole experience exceeded our expectations

Karl is the greatest exponent of closing down sales and the best operator in the business.

Thank you for making our final chapter such a memorable one.

My experience with Whitehouse was brilliant from start to finish. From the initial consultation with Karl, all the way through to the end of the sale, it was seamless. Karl and his team have years of experience handling these sales, and it really shows. What can be a very daunting decision, putting your business into the hands of another, was made far easier by their attention to detail and exceptional organisation throughout the entire process. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Whitehouse to anyone, they made a very difficult decision the best I’ve ever made.

Karl and his Team provided us with the contacts and expertise to enable us to close our business in the most profitable way possible.

As a small independent family jewellers faced with closing down our business due to our retirement, we did not really know where to start. We were recommended to Karl Massey. At first we could not believe the results that he was forecasting, but need not have worried. He and his team took over the advertising and promoting etc. including supplying us with high quality stock to supplement our own. And from then on everything went perfectly. He also supplied staff to set the whole thing up including suppling extra staff for us when our staff took pre-booked holidays.

The whole operation was a great success leaving us with much bigger sales and profit than if we had done the sale on our own. We would thoroughly recommend Karl and his team to anybody else in the same situation as ours.

David & Maureen Heasman

Managing Directors, Heasmans the Jewellers

It is tricky to come in and close a store down, and there some negativity [from staff}. It was outstanding how they encouraged everyone to be a part of it.

They [Whitehouse] were very open and answered questions honestly and fairly. It ensured there was as small amount of pain as possible. But they also bough t a certain excitement with them and that is quite infectious.

We had two stores and 12 staff in total. At that point, we didn’t have a vast amount of experience closing down. Whitehouse really knew what they were doing and, between them, had a really strong mix of capabilities.

We talked in detail about their view and combined that with our experience of the local area. It was ongoing and iterative process that went on through the sale period.

Please note, this testimonial has been taken from Retail Jeweller’s ‘Closing Time’ article. Published: April 2018, page 45 & 46.

Having spoken to him [Karl Massey], we knew exactly why he was introducing stock. We were really confident in his idea. That helped us to have confidence. We knew what he was doing, why and we had systems in place to support that, all of our stock was up to date and we were in lean, mean shape.

On offer at half price, we had £3m of retail. It was the sale we’ve done. We cleared the backlog of finances and stock, and have made enough for us to leave.

We had been doing it for a long time, it was too full-on. We needed a light at the end of the tunnel with money in the bank.

Michael Piggott

Owner, Piggotts, The Independent Jewellers

Please note, this testimonial has been taken from Retail Jeweller’s ‘Closing Time’ article.

Published: April 2018, page 45 & 46.

As an independent jeweller, when you approach the end of your trading, only one question concerns you. How can I release the money that is tied up in what may be very desirable or only average stock?

This is where we found Karl Massey was able to help us in three different areas:

• Clever advertising and promotion of a closing sale that incorporated our database.
• Clear shop banners and signage.
• Promotional placards.

Supplementing our stock with good quality items enabled us to sustain a much longer campaign, without it looking tired and thin. This extra stock helped make the most of our own stock’s potential.

The supply of key staff to organise and shape your offers is crucial. It’s very important to embrace this process rather than fight it and his team are incredibly professional. They appreciate they are dealing with someone else’s business and their guidance is first class. They will take control when needed and then they empower you and your staff at the right time to enable you to take the sale forward.

We found that the company was excellent in every area and the results are outstanding with us selling our own stock for over its cost price. I would recommend this to anyone in our position as it has proved to be the best way to sign off from a retail jewellery career without having to give your stock away.

When we first agreed that a closing down sale was the way to go the prospect was daunting to say the least. Having done this once before on a much smaller scale we had an idea of where to start but not how to maximise the potential we knew we had.

Karl, Melissa and their team came to our aid with a plethora of knowledge, expertise and guidance that allowed us to concentrate on the store, the staff and selling; taking the time consuming marketing and PR off our hands by liaising with our contacts and bringing in contacts of their own. Karl and Melissa were always at the end of the telephone and we believe that without their help and guidance we would not have been able to end on such a high!

Gabrielle McNamara
General Manager, Wilkins the Jewellers