Former Pandora executive accused of abandoning latest jewellery company -

Autumn Budget 2021 ‘falls far short of the truly fundamental reform that is needed’

Recovery in diamond market as Alrosa, De Beers record positive results

Jesper Nielsen, a former Pandora Jewellery govt who, in 2013, based the now-defunct Danish model Infinite Jewellery, has been accused of abandoning ’employees’ in his newest enterprise, JN Jewellery.

A petition titled ‘Justice For Our Ambassadors for JN ruining their reputations’ printed on the activist web site Change.org describes JN Jewellery as a multi-level-marketing (MLM) firm that has “shut down with zero warning.”

In accordance with the petition, which was created by an individual recognized as Mary Francese, “Over 70,000 Ambassadors [salespeople] had been working for JN Jewellery.”

It provides, “Nobody noticed this coming. We woke as much as a picture posted in a worldwide group that states: ‘We’re sorry….! JN will from immediately all actions globally in Community Advertising. We are going to within the coming weeks fulfill our excellent orders for patrons, and payout earned fee for our ambassadors. We wish to thanks for the final years. Your JN Staff.’”

MLM companies, also referred to as ‘community advertising’ companies, encourage current members to advertise and promote their choices to different people and recruit them into turning into salespeople for a similar MLM enterprise.

Members are paid a share of the gross sales from individuals they’ve recruited. The brand new recruits grow to be a part of the member’s community – ‘downline’ – and are, in flip, inspired to make gross sales to earn cash and recruit extra individuals as members/salespeople.

Multi-level-marketing could be a authentic enterprise construction utilized by some direct-sales corporations to promote services; nonetheless, the business has been fraught with unlawful operations which can be run as pyramid schemes.

The Change.org web page claims that extra 4,500 orders had been nonetheless awaiting cargo and that “1000’s of ambassadors [members] haven’t even acquired July commissions, not to mention August. Some have unspent credit they issued for his or her pay of their again workplace nonetheless.”

Nielsen’s jewelry historical past

Nielsen was beforehand a member of Pandora’s worldwide administration staff and in a 2015 interview, instructed Jeweller he was largely chargeable for constructing Pandora’s presence in various European international locations. He resigned as CEO of its Central Western Europe subsidiary in 2011.

A non-compete clause prohibited him from buying and selling within the jewelry business for 2 years; he subsequently based Infinite Jewellery in 2013.

The model launched internationally with 15 bracelets and 432 charms, with Nielsen saying on the time: “My attraction inspiration comes primarily from Pandora and Story [by Kranz and Ziegler], and the bracelet inspiration comes from Ole Lynggaard.”

Nielsen claimed that Infinite Jewellery achieved $US30 million ($AU38.5 million) in gross sales throughout its first full yr of buying and selling and, by the tip of 2014, was stocked in 3,500 shops throughout 16 markets.

In January 2014 Nielsen self-published a ebook entitled Inside Pandora, which was promoted as: “A easy and unconventional method to enterprise by one of many key gamers behind the billion-dollar international enterprise.”

Infinite Jewellery stormed onto the Australian market in February 2015 when, together with its Australian-based distributors, Nielsen visited Australia and personally launched the vary on the Main Edge Jewellers convention on the Gold Coast.

Following the convention, a sequence of invite-only roadshow occasions had been held in 5 capital cities throughout the nation as a approach of demonstrating that the newcomer was severe about Australasian growth.

In the identical yr, the model managed to safe a three-year deal for Jennifer Lopez to be its ‘face’, and it was reported that the singer designed a line of bracelets and 42 charms.

Nielsen attributed a lot of the model’s early success to expertise drawn from working at Pandora; nonetheless, in 2016 Nielsen all of the sudden left Infinite Jewellery lower than three years after its international launch, confirming by way of Fb that he had bought all his shares within the enterprise.

Dream collapses

The corporate ultimately collapsed in November 2016, however not earlier than Nielsen introduced plans for a brand new jewelry enterprise that might take inspiration from fast-fashion retailers.

In February 2016, solely weeks after exiting his former startup, he revealed by way of Fb that the brand new enterprise could be known as Wonderful Jewellery and invited “licence companions and franchise companions worldwide” to specific their curiosity in what he described as a enterprise that adopted an analogous mannequin to vogue retail powerhouses H&M and Zara.

On the time of publication, Jeweller was unable to establish whether or not Wonderful Jewellery nonetheless operates; nonetheless, a Shopify website exists on-line.

His private web site JesperNielsen.com was non-functioning on the time of publication, displaying the error message: ‘Sorry, we’re doing a little work on the positioning’.

It had beforehand said, “Since 2003, Jesper Nielsen and the Nielsen household have been creating a number of very profitable jewellery manufacturers worldwide, opening retailers in over 40 international locations”.

A second Change.org petition was began by an individual recognized as Jaclyn Ross and ‘tagged’ Scott Morrison, Prime Minister of Australia; in the meantime, a 3rd petition began by an individual recognized as Angela Cassidy purports to stipulate a few of the “wonderful incentives” of the Jesper Nielsen Jewellery operation, together with “holidays to his Mallorca ‘JN Mansion’, automotive bonus, money funds for the “Tremendous Recruiters”, the High Vendor, and many others.”

Jeweller has tried to contact Jesper Nielsen.

Have one thing to say? Contact the Writer here.

AT A GLANCE: JESPER NIELSEN’S BUSINESS HISTORY

<2003		Jesper ‘Kasi’ Nielsen works as a supervisor of petrol stations and low cost retailers within the suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark.
2003		Impressed by a pal, Nielsen begins promoting Italian costume jewelry in Germany and types the household firm Kasi Group.
2005		Nielsen negotiates the unique distribution rights to promote Pandora Jewellery in Germany, the place he had an current community of round 1,500 retailers. Kasi Group reaches a turnover of DKK20 million and revenue of DKK1.3 million.
2006		Nielsen persuades Pandora to permit him to open the primary of what was to grow to be a worldwide community of Pandora shops.
2007		Kasi Group’s turnover rises to DKK190 million with a revenue of DKK17 million.
2008		Kasi Group’s gross sales climb as soon as once more, reaching DKK500 million with a revenue of DKK51 million.
		The Danish personal fairness group Axcel buys a 60 per cent stake in Pandora from its founder Per Enevoldsen.
2009		Kasi Group’s turnover reaches €100 million.
		Nielsen sells Kasi Group’s distribution rights to Pandora for $81 million and a share of Pandora’s earnings for the following 5 years.
2010	JAN	Pandora and Kasi Group merge to type Pandora Central Western Europe; Pandora is almost all proprietor with a 51 per cent stake.
	OCT	Pandora is listed on the Copenhagen inventory trade and instantly acquires the remaining 49 per cent of the shares from Kasi Group to make Pandora CWE a wholly-owned subsidiary; the deal features a pre-payment of DKK385 million with the rest to be paid in 2015 as a ‘result-based earn-out’.
2011	JUL	Jesper Nielsen and his sister Annette Laustrup Nielsen resign from the board of administrators of Pandora CWE; Annette additionally leaves her place as deputy managing director of Pandora CWE. Jesper had stepped down as president of Pandora CWE on 1 April.
2013	JUL	Jesper Nielsen launches new enterprise Infinite Jewellery.
2014	JAN	Nielsen self-publishes Inside Pandora, which is promoted as: “A easy and unconventional method to enterprise by one of many key gamers behind the billion-dollar international enterprise.”
	NOV	Jennifer Lopez inks a three-year contract because the ‘face’ of Infinite Jewellery, designing a spread of latest items. The enterprise data turnover of $US30 million for the yr, in keeping with a Enterprise Of Vogue report.
2015	FEB	Infinite Jewellery launches in Australia and Nielsen says it has reached 3,300 shops in 17 markets in 19 months of operation; he tells Enterprise Of Vogue the corporate palns to open an extra 3,000 factors of sale by the tip of 2015, including, “My imaginative and prescient in 20 years? I see 10,000 Infinite shops worldwide. At some point I’m going handy it over to my son, and he’ll must take over an empire.” That very same month, Nielsen claims Pandora has not honoured its earn-out fee and that he’s owed DKK753 million, in keeping with a report in Scandinavian Retail and Danish newspaper Berlingske Tidende.
	JUN	Nielsen steps down as Infinite Jewellery CEO and later sells his shares within the firm.
2016	FEB	Nielsen declares plans for Wonderful Jewellery, impressed by fast-fashion retailers.
	APR	Wonderful Jewellery formally debuts to UK retailers and press.
	JUN	The primary Wonderful Jewellery retailer opens in Denmark.
	NOV	Infinite Jewellery recordsdata for chapter in Germany.
2019	APR	Wonderful Jewellery’s retailer counts reaches greater than 60 throughout Europe, the USA, the Center East, North Africa and Asia.
2020	JUL	Wonderful Jewellery shops reportedly begin to shut. Round this time, Jesper Nielsen launches multi-level-marketing jewelry enterprise JN Jewellery, with ‘ambassadors’ (members) within the UK and Germany.
2021	MAR	JN Jewellery expands to Australia.
	SEP	JN Jewellery ‘ambassadors’ are shocked to obtain an abrupt message that the enterprise is closing; some declare to be owed 1000’s in unpaid commissions, and several other begin on-line petitions to carry the corporate to account, together with in Australia.