Peers Hardy has shown a remarkable instinct for what normal people want to wear on their wrists over the past decade, and much of that ability is down to its grasp for what is happening on social media.
As revolutionary media platforms emerged: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and reality TV, the Midlands-based business spotted nascent trends for ICE Watch, Daniel Wellington and branded fashion watches, and supercharged them into sales of over £30 million ($40.2 million) between 2012 and 2017.
Each wave was surfed to shore, but it became tougher to spot another swell in the quartz-based fashion watch market in the late 2010s, predominately because its customers were diverting in droves into Apple Watches and health/fitness trackers.
Annual sales at Peers Hardy declined to under £20 million ($26.8 million) by 2020 and the business was searching for a new direction.
The solution came from the company’s extensive network of manufacturing contacts in Asia, who were pivoting into high volume, affordable smartwatches and fitness trackers.
The distributor and its suppliers designed and developed several lines of connected wristwear under new brands Harry Lime, Reflex Active, Henry London and even fashion label Radley.
Several of the brands have more recently developed additional lines such as ear buds, speakers and chargers, which open up consumer electronics, sports stores and travel retail opportunities.
These fresh lines were also fed into existing accounts from giants like Argos to small independent jewelers and were also sold online with accompanying social media promotions and storefronts.
These smart devices have been sold alongside a constantly refreshed portfolio of quartz watch brands for the past five years, helping Peers Hardy to bounce back to sales of £31.6 million ($42.4 million) in 2024, up 4% on the prior year and over 50% higher than 2020.
The business also maintained its costs at a time of high inflation, leading to operating profit of over £1 million ($1.3 million) last year, up 4.4%.
Its constantly changing stable of brands has been joined by Rotary in 2025, which the company says will support growth in the current financial year.