WEALTH May 30, 2026 0 Comments

Inside Appleby’s Secret Legacy: How Family Fortunes Are Quietly Shaping the Future of Global Wealth

Seventy years in the business world isn’t just a milestone; it’s a saga filled with grit, legacy, and, let’s be honest, some serious family dinner table debates. Appleby Jewellers, an iconic Dublin institution, is not just celebrating its 70th anniversary — it’s wrestling with one of the trickiest challenges any family business faces: succession planning. Imagine this — John Appleby, who once saw the family firm from a distance while chasing his own career in software and country pursuits, gets pulled back into the fray. Why? Because when you’ve got a legacy sparkling brighter than the diamonds in your display case, someone’s gotta step up and make sure it doesn’t just survive but thrives for the next generation. The question is, how do you keep that delicate balance between tradition and transformation without losing the soul of what makes Appleby, well, Appleby? John’s journey from the sidelines to managing director is more than just business strategy; it’s about safeguarding a family treasure while navigating the high-stakes puzzle of modern entrepreneurship. Ready to dive into how a classic jeweller is polishing its future? LEARN MORE

As iconic Dublin jewellers Appleby marks its 70th anniversary, the family-run business has turned its thoughts to succession planning. John Appleby tells George Morahan how he was drafted in to take over as managing director to ensure the firm is in the best possible shape for the next generation waiting to make their mark

John Appleby grew up with Appleby Jewellers. But he only became active in the family business a year and a half ago as he and his three brothers sought to figure out how to leave the company (which this year celebrates its 70th anniversary) to the next generation.

Gerard (70), Joseph (67), John (63) and Mark (59) now jointly own the firm, which was founded by their mother Peggy in 1956. It was the main topic of conversation at dinner every evening and Peggy set diamonds at the family’s home on Nutley Avenue in south Dublin.

In the early 1960s Appleby Jewellers moved to a shop in Johnson’s Court, Dublin, at which point Peggy’s husband John left the civil service to work for it full-time.

“To this day I meet people who say, ‘Oh, your dad sold me my engagement ring,’” John Junior says.

“And I know my dad never sold an engagement ring in his life. He went in and he met every customer, and they were all his best friends by the time they were leaving, but he never [sold a ring].”

Appleby Jewellers still occupies the same store off Grafton Street, although it has doubled in size over the past six decades.

The company also has a workshop nearby, led by 30-year veteran Declan McLoughlin, where the vast majority of its jewellery is designed and manufactured.

John himself spent his career in sales and executive roles at software companies while occupying a non-executive seat on the Appleby board. He maintained some involvement and helped to move its loans to a new lender when Bank of Scotland pulled out of the Irish market following the 2008 banking crisis.

Unlike his brothers, however, beyond working in the shop during school holidays, John had no day-to-day involvement with the business before retiring to Wexford with his wife to enjoy their shared love of country pursuits.

A few years ago, working in his greenhouse one Saturday morning, John heard a radio interview with his son Nicholas and eldest brother Gerry. He was struck by the passion with which they described Appleby Jewellers.

“As I was listening, I just thought, ‘God, it’s such a fantastic legacy,’” he says. “Obviously, I feel a very close connection to it. But I then started to get frightened about the succession.

“The other three [brothers] had worked in the business, and they grew up around the same dinner table I did. We all had the same value system, background and everything else, but the next generation are all cousins — and it’s very different.

“I suppose, as a family, we’re very non-confrontational. So how do you have hard conversations with people in a non-confrontational way but do something that actually looks after the legacy?”

The brothers agreed that John was best equipped to lead the business through its transition, and after many years spent offering advice as a “hurler on the ditch”, he joined as managing director.

He would come in with the aim of making things “a little bit more corporate” while retaining Appleby Jewellers’ “special ambience”.

“What’s the purpose of a business? Well, it’s about looking after its P&L and its shareholder value. [But] the purpose of this business isn’t that at all. The purpose of this business is what’s best for the family, and so you have to take a different approach,” he says.

Hostelworld and eDesk founder Ray Nolan gave John a copy of Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman about 10 years ago. After reading it several times, he embraced the book as a framework for structuring Appleby Jewellers.

Traction recommends the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), described by Wickman as a self-sustaining concept that addresses six aspects of every small business: vision, data, processes, traction, issues and people.

EOS offers companies of up to 250 employees tools to demystify and optimise their organisation across those six aspects. Implementation requires openness, honesty and vulnerability from leadership and management.

At its core, EOS involves defining company values, focuses and objectives for the next several years and putting people in the best position for them to excel while also simplifying how organisations hire, fire and reward their staff.

“It’s very systemic, and I think it’s a brilliant approach to succession planning. My only regret is that I should have started doing this five [or] seven years ago,” John says.

In the book, Wickman claims EOS clients grow revenue by an average of 18 per cent annually. Last year, Appleby Jewellers increased sales by 17 per cent. Profitability has been up and down with ongoing investment in equipment, personnel and the company’s website.

After making €633,147 in 2023, profit sank to €7,245 in 2024 as the investment programme commenced, before rallying to €325,006 last year.

Engagement rings account for around 60 per cent of sales — the company will sell approximately 1,700 to 2,000 in a given year. The remaining 40 per cent is derived from sales of other jewellery (diamond, gold, pearls) and from after-sale services, repairs and remodelling.

War in the Middle East saw the price of gold exceed $5,000 per ounce earlier this year, and John estimates the average engagement ring spend with Appleby Jewellers has risen by €700-800 in recent times.

That may be due in part to how the lower end of the market has turned towards synthetic stones, which Appleby doesn’t trade in. Either way, it has taken the decision to charge a nominal margin on the price of wedding bands for the time being.

Competition, as evidenced by the several jewellers surrounding Appleby off Grafton Street, is fierce. The company spends about 5 per cent of revenue on marketing, less than the 7-15 per cent recommended by PwC, but “it still hurts”, according to John.

He believes it will be another year before EOS is fully bedded in, so what still needs to be done? “I need to start being able to take my hands away. You start off as the puppet master. Gradually you can take your hands away and it still works, and you can say, ‘okay, my job is done’.

“We’ve got over the first phase. This whole system has been really embraced, not just by the family members in the management team but by the entire staff. That aspect of it took up my first year, and now we’re into: how can we accelerate this? How can we actually set it up for scale?

“It’s going to mean more meetings, more scorecards, more issues, lists and tasks. But I think if we get to the end of that, I and the rest of my generation are going to be able to take our hands away and say, ‘off you go, guys, keep the dividends coming please’.”

John later reveals that the line about dividends was something of an inside joke — the business has never paid one.

Appleby Jewellers has gone from supporting one family to nine, with five of Peggy’s grandchildren now deeply involved. This has created complexity that requires a thorough approach to future-proofing the business.

Joseph’s daughter and head of marketing, Kate, is currently on maternity leave. Nicholas (gemology) and Gerry’s daughter, Sophie (sales), are long-time employees and rising through the ranks.

Mark’s children, Emily (management trainee) and John (workshop apprentice), pursued careers away from the family business, in electronic engineering and quantity surveying respectively, before joining the fold. There are several more cousins who are not involved.

Nicholas jokes that he’s been in training for the “gladiatorial battle” to determine which of the third generation will head Appleby once their fathers retire. John, however, is adamant that the future will be determined by consensus and “the best person possible” will be put in charge.

“Before Dad came on board, I was starting to have these [worried] thoughts,” Nicholas admits. “I’m of a certain age, I have kids now, and I’m starting to think further into the future. Just having this framework there [means] I sleep a lot better at night.

A specialist from the UK comes in once every quarter to meet with and realign management towards their shared vision. John is pleased with how aspects of the business are running, however, praising the geology offices as particularly efficient.

“I don’t want to say it’s easy, but it has been an enjoyable process so far,” he claims.

“I think so much of leadership is about painting a picture. Look at this beautiful landscape. Look where we’re going. Doesn’t it look nice? And everybody says, yeah, let’s go there. And that’s what we’re doing.”

Photo: L to R Mark Appleby, Nicholas Appleby, Sophie Appleby, Gerry Appleby, Joe Appleby, John Appleby, Emily Appleby and John Appleby. Pic Tom Honan