So good morning, everyone, and welcome to the presentation of our results for fiscal year 2024. Our agenda is an update from myself for the group, then David Hurley for the U.S., Craig Bolton for the U.K. Anders Romberg, our CFO, will go through fiscal year 2024 results and fiscal year 2025 guidance. I will then present an update on our 2025 to 2028 long range plan, and we will then open for your questions. The Watches of Switzerland Group operates in great product categories. The luxury watch market, which is more than 90% Swiss, is robust, it's resilient, with a long-term focus on product quality and innovation. Demand for Swiss luxury watches exceeds supply for key brands, and consumers often wait patiently for their chosen timepiece, in many cases, for years. The market was impacted by the pandemic. 2020 was impacted by lockdowns.
Then two years of unusually high growth for luxury watches and jewelry, and since mid-2022, the markets have adjusted to this high growth and normalized. Looking at this volatile period in total, the luxury watch market has been strong, as seen with average growth for the U.K. of 6.3% compounded per annum from 2019, and that is despite the loss of tourism in the U.K., and in the U.S., average market growth has been 14.6%, evidencing the underdevelopment and potential of this market. A further significant factor in the U.K. in FY 2024 has been the impact of cumulative price increases from the brands, due mainly to the strong Swiss franc at a time of high interest rates and cost inflation. This resulted in a perceived affordability gap and a drop in volume with the aspirational consumer segment.
We are encouraged that brands have responded to this development through product introductions with product affordability and product appeal. The Watches of Switzerland model, focusing on large, welcoming luxury showrooms and great client service, continues to succeed, and we gain market share in both the U.S. and U.K. markets. We are very positive about the prospects for the Roberto Coin brand in North America. Market reaction to our acquisition has been very positive, and we see great growth potential with existing partners and new opportunities through monobrand and multi-brand showroom elevation. The pre-owned sector development has been very positive for our group, and both the Rolex CPO program and other pre-owned products are exceeding our sales expectations. We have a fantastic program of major showroom projects, both in the U.S. and U.K., as David and Craig will present.
We're pleased to confirm both our guidance for fiscal year 2025 and our fiscal year 2028 long-term target of doubling sales and increasing profitability. In fiscal year 2024, the U.S. division increased to 45% of group sales, and if we add the sales for Roberto Coin for calendar 2023, the U.S. sales would represent 49% of the group. The major change in customer mix of our sales since 2019 has been the loss of international tourist business in the U.K. due to the removal of VAT-free tourist shopping. Group sales in fiscal year 2024 were 95% domestic, U.K., U.S. We continue to believe that VAT-free tourist shopping will inevitably return, but we have not included this in our future financial plans. Fiscal 2024 group sales of the top eight brands shown here continue to represent 77% of total sales.
Luxury jewelry was 7% of sales in FY 2024, but if we include pro forma Roberto Coin using calendar 2023 sales, this would increase to 14%. Pre-owned has been great for our group, particularly since the launch last year of Rolex CPO. We have expanded procurement in the U.K. and U.S., and we have good and improving processes with Rolex for authentication and servicing. Consumer response to the availability of highly sought-after pieces, albeit at premium prices, has been excellent. ASP for CPO is very good. We have expanded our major watch service centers in the U.S. in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and in the U.K. in Manchester, and we have opened a further facility in Leicester. This is in response to increased servicing demand and to support the capacity for the increasing pre-owned businesses. Luxury jewelry will play a major role in our further expansion plans.
We feel both super positive for the growth prospects of Roberto Coin in North America, and we look forward to the opening of our new concept of a multi-brand luxury jewelry showroom in Manchester next spring. If, and as we expect, this is successful, we will expand the concept in the U.K. and U.S. This is not currently reflected in our plans. In fiscal year 2024, we stepped up our client engagement activities through increased client events, expanding our virtual boutiques, U.K. and U.S., servicing clients digitally, and we completed our exclusive partnership with American Express Centurion in the U.S. Our group continues to focus on our wider responsibilities toward our colleagues. We are proud to be a living wage employer in the U.K., and we continue to achieve high engagement scores with our more than 2,900 colleagues.
Our planet, an ongoing focus for our group with internal dedicated resource. Our MSCI rating is, in fact, AAA. Our communities, both in the U.K. and U.S., our foundation supports charities either who work to alleviate the impacts of poverty or educational charities, such as The Prince’s Trust. Cumulatively, we have donated GBP 7.5 million to the foundation since FY 2021. We achieved record levels of volunteering by our colleagues in FY 2024, and we have plans to further support volunteering programs in the future. I'll now pass over to David.
Thank you, Brian. We're happy with the continued growth in the U.S. market, going from $120 million in year one to just below $900 million last year. We've proven that we can acquire and integrate businesses successfully, open up highly profitable and new showrooms in markets such as Cincinnati, where we had no presence, and expand into new product categories, such as pre-owned. I'm very proud of our team's partnership with Rolex on Certified Pre-Owned, where we were one of the founding partners. It launched early in FY 2024 but had been a collaborative project for most of the prior year, and we continued to innovate in marketing and partnerships. We are delighted that Amex Centurion selected us as their timepiece partner, given our shared goal to provide one-of-a-kind experiences and services for clients.
We opened American Dream in May 2023, anchored by Rolex and with our largest Cartier Espace. This showroom has performed beyond our expectations, and we believe this mall will only get stronger as the luxury area fills out. Balenciaga has just opened opposite us, and the Gucci adjacent showroom opens in the next few weeks. Our expanded and relocated Rolex boutique opened in The Mall at Millenia in Orlando. Though we've more than doubled the size and added multiple seating areas, we still end up utilizing all spaces. We'll go bigger again with our third Rolex boutique in Lenox, Atlanta. Lastly, we opened up our third multi-brand showroom in New York at the base of One Vanderbilt with a first-of-its-kind new Cartier concept. It's also anchored by Omega and the first jewelry shop-in-shops for Messika and, of course, for Roberto Coin.
FY 2025 will be our biggest year yet for showroom projects. One of the highlights will be the Patek Philippe expansion in Greenwich, Connecticut. Our first action post acquiring Betteridge was securing an additional 2,000 sq ft adjacent to the current showroom. We are currently building this out to open in the fall, with almost all of that space dedicated to Patek. In FY 2022, we acquired Timeless Jewelers in Legacy West in Plano, Texas. This year, we will open up a new Watches of Switzerland showroom, adding Rolex as our anchor brand partner, alongside adding Cartier and with expanded spaces for Omega and Tudor. At the start of FY 2025, we acquired the distribution rights for Roberto Coin in North America, something we had been working on for well over a year.
Similar to our acquisition of Mayors, we're incredibly fortunate to inherit great dedicated teams with real expertise in their space. Brian and I have also enjoyed spending time with key Roberto Coin partners in North America and returning to our wholesale roots, and we plan to expand our branded jewelry category, just like we expanded pre-owned through our acquisition of Analog Shift. The Roberto Coin brand continues to be led by its namesake founder and his family. It's located in Vicenza, and Roberto is incredibly proud of the city's history in jewelry manufacture and his role in keeping that alive and enhancing it. At the heart of the brand's success is the product design itself, and we are delighted with our partners' positive reaction to the latest designs that were exhibited at the Couture show in Las Vegas just a few weeks ago.
Of course, Roberto signs each one of these pieces with a ruby cast inside the jewel in direct contact with the person who wears it. We're going to continue to support the momentum and growth of Roberto Coin through mono brands. We're already negotiating our first locations, and we'll be taking possession of the first spaces later this fiscal year. We're gonna support online through using our expertise to both develop robertocoin.com and developing the wholesale.com channel. Wholesale partners will continue to be the bedrock of the Roberto Coin business, and we look to elevate that presence on an ongoing basis and do the same thing in our own showrooms, something that we've been working on for the last six months.
We believe the high-end Roberto Coin collection can be a key growth category, and we're very excited about the potential in Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean, and we'll support all of this through increased brand marketing. I will now hand over to Craig Bolton to discuss the U.K. business.
Thanks, David. I'd like to update you on the significant developments we have been delivering here in the U.K. We have continued the rollout of our Goldsmiths luxury design across a number of key locations in FY 2024, most significant being Metrocentre, Newcastle, Bullring, Birmingham, Trafford, Manchester, and this amazing expansion in Liverpool. The image here shows the scale of the transformation as we expanded our new showroom to 6,500 sq ft across two floors-
Anchored by significant spaces for Rolex and Cartier. We have also continued to launch luxury jewelry brands across the Goldsmiths estate, with FOPE, Roberto Coin, Messika, Pomellato, FRED, plus others all taking a leading role. We will continue to roll out the Goldsmiths luxury design in FY 2025, including our beautiful Northern Goldsmiths showroom in Newcastle, renowned for being the U.K.'s first-ever Rolex retailer back in 1919. In November 2023, we opened and relocated the expanded showroom in Trafford Centre, Manchester, currently our number one turnover Goldsmiths showroom. This relocation allowed us to retain the previous location and build out this joint Cartier Espace and Hublot boutique. Both brands are very different in aesthetic and are very complementary to each other. Early trading and client feedback has been excellent.
Following the successful launch of our new Mappin & Webb design, we have continued this rollout in FY 2024. We have relocated our Mappin & Webb showroom in Bluewater Shopping Centre from a previous space of circa 2,000 sq ft to this beautiful new showroom of over 5,000 sq ft, accommodating a large Rolex and Cartier room, plus significant branded areas for other key luxury watch brands, alongside a new fine jewelry gallery. As well as Bluewater, we have also completed projects for Mappin & Webb in York, Guernsey, and Glasgow, and plan to continue this rollout across the Mappin & Webb estate. This continued very recently with the opening of our new Mappin & Webb showroom in Multrees Walk, Edinburgh, the luxury shopping destination in the city. The showroom is anchored with a large space for Cartier, as well as branded areas for key luxury watch brands.
The second floor has been designed to showcase luxury jewelry brands and our very own Mappin & Webb jewelry. In our famous 155 showroom on Regent Street, we completed a redevelopment of the Burlington floor, culminating in the expansion and elevation of the Patek Philippe area. This new area is 1,300 sq ft and benefits from luxurious consultation areas, as well as a VIP space and dining room. Thierry Stern and Patek senior management visited in March, and feedback was excellent. Across Watches of Switzerland, we continued to develop and expand our estate in FY 2024, and will continue to do so in FY 2025, most significantly being the expansion of the new Watches of Switzerland showroom in Fenchurch Street, London, opening November 2024. Work continues in building the new Rolex boutique on Old Bond Street, London.
Completion is planned for March 2025 for this hugely exciting project. Once complete, we will operate across 4 floors in circa 8,000 sq ft and will include the first dedicated Rolex Certified Pre-Owned floor, as well as 3 floors dedicated to sales and hospitality, and an after-sales lounge home to 6 watchmakers and technicians. This boutique will be the single Rolex agency on Bond Street from what was previously 4 points of sale. We have also agreed with Rolex to double the size of our Rolex boutique on Buchanan Street, Glasgow. This hugely successful showroom has traded beyond expectations since opening in 2019, and now requires this expansion to allow us to service increased number of clients, as well as introduce Rolex Certified Pre-Owned in a dedicated space and create a quality after-sales area with in-house watchmakers. This project will commence early 2025.
As previously announced, we have agreed to enter into a joint venture with Audemars Piguet to open a townhouse in King Street, Manchester, and will be the only point of sale in the U.K. f or Audemars Piguet outside of London. Across 6,500 sq ft, the Grade II-listed townhouse is being designed with the highest level of client experience in mind, offering dining facilities, VIP space, music lounge, and rooftop event and space. The planned opening is spring 2025. We will develop a first-of-its-kind Mappin & Webb luxury jewelry showroom in St Anne's Square, Manchester.
This Grade II-listed building in the heart of luxury retailing in the city will be home to the most amazing selection of luxury jewelry brands, curated across 5,500 sq ft of branded spaces, hospitality, bespoke, and event and space, including the first De Beers monobrand boutique outside of London. All of the brands listed here will also be exclusive to Mappin & Webb in Manchester, giving us a real point of difference for our clients. The showroom is scheduled to open in spring 2025. Following the acquisition of the 15 showrooms from Signet in November 2023, we have now fully rebadged and integrated these businesses and our new colleagues. These showrooms are very much in the space of luxury watches with great potential for growth in luxury jewelry, too. All showrooms are in good geographical locations, complementary to our current estate.
Showroom development commences in FY 2025, with the relocation and expansion of Peterborough, Milton Keynes, and Kingston. Trading is in line with expectations, with improving trends. Many thanks. I will now hand over to Anders to discuss the financials.
Thank you, Craig. FY 2024 was a year of market normalization in which we continued to gain market share.... Sales came in at GBP 1.538 billion, or +2% at constant currency on FY 2023. Sales growth was driven by the U.S. market, with growth of +11% in constant currency. Our adjusted EBIT of GBP 135 million versus GBP 165 million in FY 2023. Our free cash flow was GBP 118 million, with free cash flow conversion at 66%. Return on capital employed of 19.5%, decrease of 840 basis points from FY 2023, reflecting the lower EBIT. Turning to the income statement in more detail. As mentioned, revenue at +2% in constant currency and flat in reported rates.
Luxury watches at +3% in constant currency, with demand continued to outstrip supply for key brands. The luxury jewelry market was tougher, but encouraging signs in the branded jewelry, which outperformed within the segment. Net margin percentage declined by 80 basis points due to product mix, with luxury watches, including pre-owned, outperforming jewelry. We also had an adverse impact of the cost of interest-free credit from annualization of higher interest rates. Increased costs came from expansion of our showrooms estate, but the remaining cost base was well managed. Our adjusted EBIT margin contracted 190 basis points to 8.8%, and adjusted EBIT for FY 2024 came in at GBP 135 million. Our effective tax rate for the year was 30.3%, or up 890 basis points on FY 2023.
This is due to the higher U.K. corporation tax rate, Europe losses, where no deferred tax assets recognized, and the reduction in the share price on bond share-based payment deferred tax assets. Adjusted EPS came in at 38p, or down 28% on prior year. Our balance sheet is strong. Continued investment in expansionary CapEx to elevate the network and drive future growth remains a key component of our strategy. Inventory levels were up 10%, reflecting the acquisition of Ernest Jones showrooms and investment in our pre-owned business, which is performing really strongly. Underlying inventory levels and turns remained healthy. We closed the year with net cash GBP 1 million, versus GBP 60 million in FY 2023. Our free cash flow for the year was GBP 118 million, with a cash flow conversion of 66%, ahead of our guidance.
We continue our investment in elevation program and spent GBP 78 million in expansionary CapEx during the year. Acquisition expenditure reflects the purchase of the luxury watch showrooms from Ernest Jones. In May 2023, we replaced our old facilities with a new GBP 225 million revolving credit facility, increasing the liquidity headroom by GBP 55 million. To finance the Roberto Coin Inc. acquisition, the group secured a new $115 million term loan. This maintains the group's liquidity and financial flexibility to support ongoing growth in the business. Net debt to EBITDA leverage, including Roberto Coin, on a pro forma basis, came out at 0.6x. There is no change to our guidance for FY 2025. Our guidance is based on visibility of supply of key brands and includes confirmed projects, but excludes uncommitted projects and acquisitions.
Sales are expected to come in between 1.67 and 1.73 billion pounds, or +9% to 12% in constant currency. Our adjusted EBIT margin is expected to expand 0.2%-0.6% on FY 2024. We will continue our investment program and expect to spend GBP 60 million-GBP 70 million of capital in the year. Our free cash conversion is planned to come in at circa 70%. Finally, the glossary includes key definitions and a summary of our reporting timetable next year. We're modifying the way we report next year, with routine updates for the half year and the full year being unchanged, alongside two qualitative commentaries during the year.
We believe the amended reporting timetable will allow us to better articulate progress towards our Long Range Plan targets and is in the best long-term interest of the company and its shareholders. With that, I will now hand over to Brian for an update on our LRP.
Thanks, Anders. Now turning to our long-range plan, we have exciting growth plans through to fiscal year 2028. A very strong program of showroom investments, luxury jewelry expansion through Roberto Coin and other initiatives, the pre-owned category, becoming an important online retailer in the U.S., and acquisitions and new projects in the U.S. Showroom investment has been core to our growth, and we have the most exciting program of investments planned out in future years. In the LRP period, we will complete our upgrades and expansions of all acquired showrooms in the U.S., and we have some great projects coming up soon, like Legacy West in Plano, Texas, the first of the Betteridge showrooms in Vail, Colorado, a return to Jacksonville, Florida, and a fantastic new location in Tampa, Florida.
In the U.K., we will complete all upgrades of the Mappin & Webb and Goldsmiths showrooms, including the acquired Ernest Jones showrooms in the LRP period, together with new exciting mega projects, the Rolex flagship boutique in Bond Street, a doubling of the Rolex boutique in Glasgow, the first and only Audemars Piguet House outside of London in Manchester... and a new all-luxury jewelry concept, also in Manchester. We are very excited about our potential in luxury jewelry. The market reaction to the Roberto Coin brand and products that David and I experienced directly at the Couture Exhibition in Las Vegas was very positive. We have completed our initial growth plans, and we are active in negotiations for the first monobrand Roberto Coin boutiques.
We have had initial discussion with some potential brand partners for franchise stores, and our teams are working with the Roberto Coin teams in Vicenza on marketing, store development, and digital plans. We are actively expanding and re-merchandising Roberto Coin in our Mayors showrooms. The new luxury jewelry concept showroom, which opens in Manchester in spring 2025, is a very exciting prospect. The showroom design is spectacular. The design includes a De Beers monobrand and the introduction of David Yurman, Pomellato, FRED, and Repossi, in addition to strong existing brands of FOPE, Messika, and Roberto Coin, and there is more to come. We have not assumed the rollout of this concept in our plans, but we have high hopes of expansion. Pre-owned is going very well and ahead of our expectations.
In response to the strong consumer interest, we are ramping up our capabilities in product procurement and servicing and specialized training. We are also planning in-store and window branding, increased marketing, and the development of online and digital support. Both Rolex CPO and other pre-owned will contribute more to future growth than previously planned. The online opportunity in the U.S. is big. We are investing in this opportunity with dedicated resources and in marketing and technology. Around 41% of group sales in the U.S. came from businesses acquired. We have proven that we can integrate, transform, and grow acquisitions and deliver attractive returns. The U.S. market remains underdeveloped, and there are opportunities for both acquisitions and new projects. Our LRP includes our best estimate of investment capital and growth from these opportunities. Now back to Anders.
The plan calls for more than doubling of sales and EBIT over the five years. The chart illustrates the building blocks behind our model and indicates where we see the market opportunities. Vertically shows in which market we see the opportunity, in the horizontal axis indicates the size of the opportunity. It's indicative only, so please don't bring out your ruler. Capital investments into existing showrooms is a proven model with good returns. We plan to spend between GBP 300 million and GBP 350 million in this area, which includes space expansions and/or relocations. Historical paybacks has been between two and three years on these kind of projects. E-commerce growth is expected to continue, and certified pre-owned will further drive growth in this channel. There is a significant opportunity for growth in the U.S. e-com space.
From the initial results of Rolex CPO and other CPO since launch, we now expect CPO to outperform our initial plans. Luxury branded jewelry is an area where we see significant growth potential, particularly following the acquisitions of Roberto Coin Inc. The Ernest Jones showroom acquisition will also drive further growth in the U.K. We plan between GBP 350 million and GBP 500 million spend on acquisitions and new showroom projects. We are ahead of schedule on acquisitions, with the Ernest Jones and Roberto Coin Inc. acquisitions delivered, and now expect total acquisitions to be towards the top end of our guidance. Our track record on acquisitions is very good, with a payback of between 4 and 4.5 years. As mentioned, we expect improved operational leverage, with EBIT margin improving between 50 and 150 basis points on FY 2023.
We expect free cash flow conversion at circa 70%, and I will now hand back to Brian for some closing remarks.
We're in a positive frame of mind. Our model works, we have maintained our investment program, and we will continue to invest for high-quality growth. The luxury watch market is strong and consistently well-managed by the Swiss brands, with a focus on product quality and innovation. Demand exceeds supply for luxury watches. The pre-owned category is dynamic and growing, and we are performing very well in this segment. The luxury jewelry category offers exciting growth prospects. We plan to do in jewelry what we've done in watches. Roberto Coin is simply a fantastic brand. We have been very successful in the U.S., and we will both acquire and add new showrooms in this underdeveloped market. Our group purpose and values are very important, and we will continue with our ESG agenda. Finally, we confirm both FY guidance and our LRP goals.
Thank you, and that concludes the presentation, and Anders and I will now take your questions.
Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to ask a question, please signal by pressing star one on your telephone keypad. If you wish to cancel your request, please press star two. Again, it is star one to ask a question... And our first question comes from Adrien Duverger from Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.
Hey, good morning. Thank you very much for taking my questions, and congratulations on the good set of results. I just had a couple of questions, maybe the first one on the U.K. Can you please comment a bit more on what you've seen in the last couple of months? I think since the months of May, you seem to be much more confident that the market is stabilizing or improving from what you said in May. So if you can please comment on that, that would be super helpful. And then maybe the second question would be on the U.S. market. Could you please comment on your expectations in the U.S., given this will be an election year?
I think some of your peers have commented that this may delay spending, particularly on watches and jewelry. Maybe if I can have just a final one on the CPO. I think this is becoming a bigger part of the business, so if you could maybe comment a bit more on this. I seem to remember that your target is for CPO to be 20% of new Rolex in the U.S. by full year 2028. So is that still the case, and how is, you know, sourcing and progressing, and how you are tracking against the plans that you mentioned earlier? Thank you very much.
Thanks, Adrien. We obviously were not going to give any specifics about current trading. We did make the comment that there were signs of stabilization in the market. I think the market did experience, in addition to the kind of normalization of the market that was happening globally, and the U.K. had the particular impact of higher than average price increases, particularly affecting the kind of premium position, the kind of GBP 4,000-GBP 8,000 price point, whatever. Higher price increases product that appeals to an aspirational segment group, who were obviously more affected by interest rates and so on.
So it was a bit of a sticker shock, as we've, as we've referred to it as, and obviously as time goes on, that, that shock lessens, and at the same time, because we've, had, you know, a good response from our brand partners, to the, the U.K., market positioning, which is a bit different than the, than the rest of Europe. And so we- it's, it's benefiting the situation that, that we had, and particularly in the back half of last year. But we really can't give any more specifics than that. It's early days. We aren't calling for a major turnaround in, in macro, and we've, we've continually said we won't call that till we see it.
We've obviously got the election just around the corner and, you know, we'll see what happens to consumer, you know, attitude after that. But the U.S., yeah, you're right. I mean, we've heard it from everybody in the U.S., what always happens is sort of a bit of instability in an election year, and then things turn positive, you know, post-November, when the election results are known. We've kind of anticipated that, and the numbers that we've done, and that kind of remains our view. But, you know, fundamentally, it is a underdeveloped market.
I think that's proven beyond any doubt, and we have a lot of really exciting programs that we're working on in the U.S. and leading to us gaining share and, you know, whatever the market conditions are, and as we did in 2024, confident we'll do in 2025 and beyond. Similar situation in the U.K., that we continue to invest and gain share. So it's early days and obviously in a new financial year, but anything that we've experienced so far has been dealt into our thinking and confirming our guidance for the year overall. CPO is. It really has been great.
I think some surprises to everybody is much more of a store-based business and much more of a conversion of, you know, traffic coming to store and then realizing that they have the opportunity of buying these wonderful products. Albeit most commonly at a premium pricing, but products are guaranteed by Rolex in particular. And so it's been great for us. I think we did... I don't think that we did say when we did the first LRP presentation in November, that we thought sourcing would have been a restriction in the U.K. We've been more successful in sourcing than we thought back then, so it's one of the reasons why we're even more optimistic about CPO. We are confident that we can follow the demand.
The demand is clearly there. There's more to come from marketing and in-store presentation and so on, so we think there's more to come from the point of view of stimulating even further demand. We have big projects coming up, like the Rolex store in Bond Street, that will have a dedicated floor, similar to the dedicated space for the Rolex boutique in Glasgow. So a lot of really good stuff, and we're now more confident we can follow it from a procurement standpoint. So, we're more confident and more ambitious about CPO than we indicated in November, based on the experience that we've had.
Thank you very much.
We will now take our next question from John Cox from Kepler. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Yeah. Good morning, guys. A couple of questions for you. I see the Rolex CPO, where you are in terms of share of, share of revenue. I'm not really talking about the long-range plan. I think you've confirmed that it is currently your second biggest brand, effectively. I think I've mentioned a figure before of 10%. I understand you've sort of rolled back a bit on that, with some of your meetings on the, on the buy side. Yeah, just trying to get a feel for where that, where that figure is currently in the last month, or so. I imagine that's growing really, really, quickly.... Second question, the usual one, discussions with other partners on the jewelry side of the equation.
Anything going with, you know, some of the bigger names in jewelry and whatever plans you may have on that? And then thirdly, just on the VAT tax, any sort of thoughts about when that might happen post an election in the U.K.? Thank you.
So just going in reverse order, the VAT tax, we, I mean, I think we are encouraged by the mood music from the impending Labour government of focus on growth and focus on business friendliness. And if that is your focus when you look at the facts on the VAT-free situation, our belief is you can't help but arrive at the conclusion that we should be as the rest of Europe is in offering VAT-free shopping for tourists. The statistics are compelling in terms of the growth that Europe is experiencing that they're totally missing out on in the U.K. And we're certainly very hopeful that the most likely new government will be much more supportive of retail.
We're a huge employer of the retail sector. We have big challenges in the business rates, and then we've had this other major challenge of the absence of VAT-free shopping, and it's been everywhere. There's been great press coverage and great support. There's been lobbying and everything that's gone on. And surprisingly, we thought it could well have happened by now. It obviously hasn't done, and our view is that it's inevitable, but we haven't put it into any numbers at this point. So, nothing's come from the government specifically on it as part of the election campaign at this point, but hopeful. That's more or less all we could say on it. Again, still going in reverse order, the kind of jewelry brands.
I think we've got a fantastic portfolio of brands coming into Manchester. The De Beers monobrand is a big deal. David Yurman's a huge brand in the U.S., and we'll be giving really prominent space to them. Obviously, also to Roberto Coin, and then you add wonderful international brands like, like Pomellato, for example. In addition to, I mean, Fope has been a fantastic brand for us. Messika, really growing well. We're going to have a wonderful portfolio. We'll have some niche brands from West Coast America, some really interesting things and vintage. We've got a lot, and a lot that we're still working on.
And, you know, of course, I'm never slow in knocking the door of, of the big brands and, and talking about our, our activity, and it has got attention within the kind of luxury jewelry world for sure. We are doing something that's new, that hasn't been done before, and we have a reputation for execution at the highest level. So, we're working on it, as the answer to that, but no specific news of the kind of brands that I think you're referring to. CPO, but I'm not, we're not going to give a percentage at this point as to where we are.
We doubled, more than doubled in Q4, and we gave out that stat, and we're continuing to enjoy that kind of performance at the moment, U.K. and U.S. I mean, you may follow the secondary market prices that are out there, but they've somewhere between stabilized to, you know, modest improvement in terms of market prices in the secondary market, which I think is good. We've been maintaining pricing and margin all the way through, but we very much see that as a positive move as well. So we will report more on CPO as we go, but we're not going to give out the percentage at this point.
Okay. I wonder, just on the Roberto Coin transaction, are you seeing any signs of pushback now that you've done that deal from the bigger luxury jewelry brands, you know, worried about that?
Uh, no.
No?
No, John, not, not at all. I think there's... I'll tell you what, being at JCK/ Couture, which is a major event in America, which is the best jewelry market in the world, just being there and getting the market response, people were just so complimentary of, you know, what a great deal this is, what a great brand it is, and you know, what a great organization it is to deal with, all of which we had, you know, experienced and seen. None of the big brands are gonna come back in the, I don't think, question, that not any of the even competing brands within the store. I think it's seen as a good move for us.
As I say, we have a reputation for investment, you know, for ambition, for believing in the categories, for executing very well, and it's good for everybody. What we had anticipated was, you know, maybe a bit of a reaction from some wholesale distribution, and the news on that is positive, in that we've again met a good cross-section of the distribution in Vegas. Department stores are all totally fine and ambitious for the brand, and they see it as positive that we'll be bringing investment and other resources to the business. And similarly, the significant independents, many of whom we know in any event from watch relationships, but all very positive as well about the brand and what we could bring to it.
So all of the experience so far has been good on the product, on the client reaction, on the, you know, existing wholesale distribution reaction, and we love the team and we love the brand, so feels great.
Great. Thank you.
As a reminder, to ask a question, please signal by pressing star one. Our next question comes from Richard Taylor from Barclays. Please go ahead.
Yeah, morning. It's another question on pre-owned. What are your expectations for your market share going forward versus new? And what sort of competitive advantages do you think you hold from your scale as you look to grow further in this market versus some of the other operators? I recall at IPO, for example, you talked about the benefits of selling products, customers in other branches if a product wasn't available in the customer's home store. So do you see any advantage from that at the moment? And how do you think you can leverage your customer database to turn the product?
Yes, to all that, Richard. I think scale is important in this area of pre-owned and procurement, then on stock management. And you're right, I mean, when we were in a position of having much more stock in store, we were able to take kind of national advantage of it with making product available and moving product around the country or around the terminals at Heathrow or whatever. And pre-owned is already benefiting from that to some degree, and will do as this business develops. There's so many benefits have got to be yet seen in pre-owned, the marketing, the in-store presentation, window displays.
I mean, it is a surprise to people to come into the store and ask about Rolex, and previously, the only option we'd had with them is to say, "Well, but, you know, we'll take their name and put them on our ROI list." Now we have this other option of actually you can buy it today, and, you know, let's show you what's on offer. But nothing in windows, nothing generally understood out there in the market, so it's of a surprise all round. Also in merchandising, as we improve procurement, we'll be buying into, you know, much more balanced merchandise mix. And kind of really develop the presence in store.
So I think there's a lot to come, and I think scale and technology are definitely relevant advantages. Again, we don't know our share, it's the distribution plans with Rolex globally started with Bucherer and ourselves. It's been expanded a bit further, U.K. and U.S., but at this point, we don't know share position. But yes, we are, I think, advantaged here fundamentally because of scale.
Okay. Thanks very much.
Sure.
Thank you. As a final reminder, to ask a question, please signal by pressing star one. I will pause for just a moment to allow you to signal. It appears there are currently no further questions in the phone queue. With this, I'd like to hand the call back over to Amelia for any web questions. Over to you, Amelia.
Thank you, Sergei. It appears that we currently have no written webcast questions at the moment. I'll hand over to you, Brian, for any closing remarks. Thank you.
Thanks, thanks, Emily. And thanks, everybody, for joining. You know, we are, we're feeling good going into this year about the market, about our plans. I think there's a lot that we did last year in investing in our, our business that we'll, we'll get the benefit for in, in this year and, and years ahead. In addition to which, you know, we have really exciting projects coming of, of, of a scale that, I think is very unusual, you know, epitomized by the, the Rolex boutique we'll be opening in Bond Street, and big new Rolex boutique we'll be opening in, in Atlanta, Georgia, AP House. I mean, a lot of exciting things coming.
In the LRP periods, we'll have completed pretty much all of our upgrade programs, all of the acquired stores in the U.S., all Goldsmiths, all Mappin and Webb, and I think that's, again, very significant for our future. The basis that we've done our 2025 guidance on obviously hugely influenced by the supply-driven brands. But again, we have units, and in addition to that, we have, you know, indications of ASP, which once again, we're using. So we feel like that's totally reliable. Added to that, we have the momentum in CPO that we are structuring to take full advantage on, as we've just discussed, feel great about Roberto Coin and what we're doing in luxury jewelry.
We've also made step-ups in terms of our infrastructure to support the growth that we are. As we reported, our U.S. business is now more or less half of our worldwide business, and we've gradually moved resources to the local market in the U.S. and kind of culminating with us moving into nice offices for everybody in the last few weeks, which I saw when I was last there. And finally, we get everybody back together again. Everybody's been working remotely, more or less, since the lockdown time, so that's another great step up, and along with that, we're investing in systems and the organization to support that growing business. So '24 is behind us, we're into '25, and we're feeling confident about the year.
We're feeling good about the market trends that are there and confident enough for us to again look at our LRP that we've looked at in some detail, and we still believe that we can deliver on that. Fundamental to everything, obviously, is our great teams throughout our organization. They've been through a really tumultuous period from a market standpoint. They've been fantastic. They deal with whatever comes their way and optimize it. All of our stats on client service and client response are all headed in the right direction, so they're really doing a fantastic job in stores and our head offices, and our thanks very much go to them. So thanks for joining us, and obviously, we'll see you at the next call. Thank you.