Anya Hindmarch takes back control of her luxury empire

During the years that Anya Hindmarch was absent from the day-to-day running of the business, it suffered heavy losses and changed management several times. Credit : Nicky Sims/BFC/Getty Images

Anya Hindmarch has regained control of her eponymous fashion business years after returning as chief executive to revive the brand's fortunes.

Ms Hindmarch received a «founder's share» class A.» in April, according to company documents, making it the ultimate controlling party.

It comes nearly four years after Ms Hindmarch struck a deal to regain joint ownership of the fashion brand. She returned as CEO in 2019 after leaving eight years ago and said her priority was to “disrupt the business.”

At the time, Anya Hindmarch suffered heavy losses and closed a number of stores.

Ms Hindmarch's efforts, including the opening of new stores, have recently begun to bear fruit, with the company's latest reports showing an increase in sales.

The luxury brand launched The Village concept in May 2021 of the year. This is a cluster of Anya Hindmarch stores in Belgravia, London, comprising a home and lifestyle store, a personalization store and a café.

In 2022, The Village Hall opened here, which changes every six weeks and features an ice cream shop and Christmas grotto. The company said it had also begun opening dedicated spaces in luxury department stores including Selfridges and Harrods.

It comes as many retailers have pulled out of the high street, with luxury retailer Fenwick to close its London department store in 2024. The number of vacancies on New Bond Street has doubled since the UK stopped VAT-free shopping for tourists, according to the Local Data Company.

In results published this week for the year to January 28, Anya Hindmarch reported like-for-like sales up 51 percent. Revenues were boosted by demand for the iconic shopping bags it introduced in supermarkets.

Now, in partnership with Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Asda, Morrisons and Co-op, the company has launched The Universal Bags — durable shopping bags in supermarket colours.

Company House documents show that between 25% and 50% of Anya Hindmarch is still owned by Iranian-born businessman Javad Marandi, a Conservative backer who has also invested in luxury brands including Soho House and the Conran Shop.

However, the documents state that only Ms Hindmarch has the power to remove and appoint directors.

Before agreeing to joint ownership with Ms Hindmarch, Mr Marandi bought his majority stake from funds linked to Sheikha Moza, the wife of the emir of Qatar.