Jack Wills to axe Aubin & Wills after Christmas

“Our competition has become sharper than ever and our customers have become more demanding than ever. Aubin & Wills is a brand that has captured us all in different ways and it feels so tantalisingly close to us having the brand right.

At its core, however, it just does not have the fundamental business model advantages that Jack Wills has.”

This was the explanation given in an email by Jack Wills executive Glen Tinton, published ‘The Sun’.

In the same email, Tinton advances that “We will enter into employee consultation immediately and we aim to redeploy as many Aubin & Wills staff as possible to Jack Wills to minimise any proposed redundancies.”

Jack Wills was founded in 1999 by Peter Williams and Robert Shaw. It launched Aubin & Wills in 2008 to draw in older customers.

Curiously enough, at its seasonal report release, they explained how the pre-tax profit at the private equity-backed company fell, but the business attributed the decrease to continued international expansion and the development of the Aubin & Wills brand.

Wills Lifestyle Holdings Ltd, the parent company for Jack Wills' UK, US and Hong Kong arms, reported a turnover of 121.9 million pounds for the year to 31 January 2012, a 32.5 percent over the 92 million pounds reported a year ago. Jack Wills said profits and EBITDA were "materially impacted" by the group's international expansion and the development of the Aubin & Wills brand.