Testimonials

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

The team has distance from the store. Karl was able to get things done that I wouldn’t have been able to convince my managers to do.

There simply wasn’t the growth that there had been in the past. It [the closing down sale] has allowed me to start all over again in Blackpool and I have the freedom to do it without worrying about budgets. It has changed my life and secured my future.’

Michael Hyman

Managing Director, Wilkins The Jewellers

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

Karl Massey, through his White House Consulting company, has provided us with clear leadership for our recent closing down sale, with useful trade contacts, together with discounted access to helpful and constructive marketing and PR services. He has been available at all times for positive and realistic advice and I am certain we would not have generated the success we have achieved had we not followed his tried and tested formula.

We had attempted to dispose of a family run jewellery business as a trade sale but without success. We were introduced to Karl Massey and he proposed closing the store down to liquidate the stock and release the capital for the Directors.

Karl met with the staff to explain the process and proactively marketed the closure programme from start to finish. He also provided experienced staff to assist in the pre-sale activity, preparing the windows and organising stock, and also sales support staff.

The closing sale was an outstanding success, above all expectations, with the entire stock being cleared and significant cash being available to the shareholders. After the sale had finished the shareholders were able to dispose of other company assets relatively quickly.

I would have no hesitation in recommending White House Consulting to anyone who is looking to exit their business.