S2: Success without following the trends, with Annoushka Ducas MBE, founder of Links of London and Annoushka Jewellery

By her own admission "an accidental jeweller", Annoushka Ducas has built an empire that revolutionised the jewellery industry. Links of London was the first brand to bring personalised, well crafted and highly gift-able jewellery under one beautiful brand to the high street. Annoushka and her husband John launched Links of London in 1990 and built the brand over 15 years until they made the difficult decision to sell. Within 18 months Annoushka launched her second brand, Annoushka Jewellery. In this episode, Annoushka discusses how her business got her through grief, the emotions after selling Links of London, and where her entrepreneurial spirit comes from. She shares her views on following trends and the future of the high street today. A mother of 4 daughters, Annoushka has built both businesses on a philosophy of absolutely loving what she creates and designs jewellery for women to buy for themselves. It’s this attitude to female empowerment that also drives Annoushka through her other missions, including mentoring school programmes for girls, working with Give A Future and her role as a patron with the Prince's Trust 'Women Supporting Women' initiative. Enjoying listening to these unfiltered chats? It's worth following Holly Tucker MBE and Holly & Co on Instagram, and subscribing to our weekly newsletter on our website, where Holly downloads her thoughts, and exclusively shares small business finds and topical, 'ungoogleable' business advice.