Russell Sheldrake Subdial recently announced that it has raised £1.5m in funding led by Watchfinder founder Stuart Hennell. Hennel exited Watchfinder shortly after it was acquired by luxury goods group Richemont in 2018 for an estimated £220m. The investment will go directly toward strengthening the platform and supporting the company’s plans to open a physical clubhouse in early 2025.
British second-hand watch retailer Subdial recently announced that it has raised £1.5 million in funding led by Watchfinder founder Stuart Hennel. Subdial was founded in 2018, when the secondary market was at the beginning of a boom period. As the company has matured, it has moved further into technology, and much of its value is now found in its technology-based approach to buying, selling, and valuing markets. Created in partnership with Bloomberg, the market index has become one of the industry standards for those who want to quickly understand the ups and downs of popular models.
Stuart Hennel, co-founder and former CEO of Watchfinder, once a competitor of Subdial, was acquired by luxury goods group Richemont in 2018 for an estimated £220m. He resigned from the company immediately after that. Now, as a private investor leading a group that includes Active Partners, Mr. Haenel is re-entering the industry by backing Subdial with this significant investment. It’s interesting to see Haenel make this move, considering that subdials and watchfinders were once direct competitors in many people’s eyes. But it shows how confident he is in this business and the very technologically advanced approach he’s taking to this industry.
Hennel is currently serving as an informal advisor to the business, but will not serve on the board of directors.
The unique nature of Subdial’s business lies in our technology and data-driven approach, but we also keep our sales healthy thanks to weekly attrition, which is always highly anticipated by collectors who subscribe to our newsletter . These declines resulted in an annual operating rate of approximately £30 million for Subdial.
This isn’t the first time Subdial has raised funding. Back in 2021, the company was able to attract £4m of investment led by Active Partners. This round was perfectly timed given the crash the market saw in early 2022, and likely helped Subdial weather this decline. Although the market has not yet fully recovered in some sectors, it appears to be reaching a stable level and confidence is starting to return. But we’ll probably never see the dizzying heights we saw at the end of 2021 again.
Subdial says the investment will be used to enhance its current platform, rather than developing new types of technology. This will also help the company relocate its offices from its current location in Hoxton to Farringdon, with plans to open a physical clubhouse in early 2025.
