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Husband and wife team John Ayton and Annoushka Ducas, founders of jewellery retailer Links of London, made millions as a result of a productive lunch hour. Now the couple are chancing their luck again with a new jewellery range.

Hoping to hit gold again:

Annoushka Ducas and her husband, John Ayton, sold Links of London for £50m

Links of London was born in 1991 after Annoushka, then 23, was asked to make fish-shaped cufflinks as gifts for the chefs at her mother’s fish supply business. With 60 spare she went to Harvey Nichols in Knightsbridge, west London, during her lunch break and asked if anyone was interested. The store agreed to stock them if she designed a full collection.

With John at the financial helm and Annoushka a jewellery devotee, the couple went on to sell Links of London for ￡50m in 2006 to jewellery manufacturer Folli Follie.

Now, 18 years on, they are launching a new luxury jewellery range called Annoushka, which they believe will be the leading fine jewellery department store brand in the UK when it is launched on July 29.

Their flagship concession will be launched as a boutique at the front of the Knightsbridge Harvey Nichols store and Annoushka jewellery will be available from concessions in 11 department stores including Harrods, Selfridges, Liberty, Harvey Nichols and House of Fraser.

Far from seeing the recession as a cause for concern, the couple, who live in Chichester, Sussex, with their four children Marina, Oliver, Chloe and Oscar, are confident about the launch. ‘We started in the jewellery industry in 1990 so we understand recessions and the opportunities they bring,’ John says.

The former corporate lawyer adds: ‘It is a good time to start because it is much easier to create an efficient business in a recession. We have found that people who were really keen to work for us before are even keener now’.

‘Keeping things simple allows us to be really creative and nimble and makes it a lot more fun,’ says Annoushka.

The couple also believe their close partnership as husband and wife is key to their success. Serial entrepreneur John says: ‘I think it is a lonely furrow to be an entrepreneur and not to have a partner. A true entrepreneur recognises where their strengths and weaknesses lie, and I think we are very fortunate that we are very complementary in Links of London Charms.

‘Annoushka will look after the creative and visual side of the business and designs the products whilst I will look after the strategy, positioning and development of the business. A man and woman partnership is a very strong combination’.

Annoushka adds: ‘The most important thing about that partnership is that there is no politics or hidden agenda. It is fantastic and very liberating’.