Links of London had 28 stores and a royal warrant — then its parent lied about €1 billion

Links of London was a British jewelry brand founded in 1990, known for its silver charm bracelets and a Royal Warrant from the Prince of Wales. At its peak, it operated approximately 28 stores across the UK, US, and Canada. In 2006, the brand was acquired by Folli Follie Group, a Greek luxury fashion company, for £24.7 million.

In 2018, a forensic investigation by Qatalyst Partners revealed that Folli Follie had been fraudulently overstating its revenue by approximately €1 billion. The Greek company's shares collapsed, and its financial misconduct triggered a cascade of failures across its subsidiaries. Links of London was directly caught in the fallout.

In March 2019, Links of London went into administration. All 16 UK stores and all US and Canadian locations were closed. Approximately 500 employees lost their jobs. The brand that had once held a Royal Warrant and was a staple of British jewelry retail was dismantled entirely. By June 2020, the brand had ceased to exist as a retail operation.

The parent's fraud drained confidence, credit, and cash at once, so the subsidiary's 500 jobs and all stores were gone within months.

Links of London was a healthy brand that was destroyed by its parent company's fraud — the subsidiary was not failing, but it was owned by a failing group

The Folli Follie overstatement of €1 billion meant the parent company had no cash to support its subsidiaries when the fraud was exposed

A jewelry brand with a Royal Warrant and 28 stores can be liquidated entirely in months when the financial fraud at the top drains confidence, credit, and cash simultaneously

Links of London had no independent financing or ownership structure — it was structurally dependent on a parent that turned out to be worth a fraction of what it claimed

A subsidiary's health is meaningless if the parent is a fraud. Links of London did not fail on its own merits, but the parent's collapse made its credit and supply chain simultaneously toxic.

All stores closed by June 2020. The brand name was eventually acquired by new owners in 2021 and relaunched as an online-only retailer, but the physical retail chain and the Royal Warrant were gone permanently.