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Secrets International, a jewellery group founded at the turn of the Millennium in Noosa that has grown to 23 stores and championed lab-grown diamonds as an ethical alternative, has entered administration with plans to either sell or restructure the business.
Kate Warwick, Kelly Trenfield and John Park of FTI Consulting were appointed as joint and several administrators of the group yesterday, including for subsidiaries such as its Secrets Shhh brand, its leasing, retail and franchising divisions, and online store.
The company was founded in 2000 by Jane Meredith, a former store manager at luxury jewellery brand Calleija at Sanctuary Cove on the Gold Coast, and Dietmar Gorlich who previously worked with some of the world's leading luxury jewellers in Europe.
"Original and visionary, Secrets Shhh was founded on a big dream: to introduce the world’s finest, most brilliant diamond simulants in exquisitely crafted 10ct and 14ct solid gold jewellery," Meredith wrote in a description of the business on LinkedIn.
"The Secrets seed was sown decades earlier while Dietmar was working for some of the world’s most distinguished luxury jewellers in Berlin, Frankfurt and Hatton Garden, London.
"Fashioning high-end jewellery for the rich and famous gave Dietmar the revolutionary idea that he could combine precious metals with the latest technology in diamond simulants to achieve the same brilliant effect. Intuitively he knew people would love his idea: luxury jewellery made with the same passion, quality, old-fashioned craftsmanship, and precious metals yet be accessible to everyone."
In February 2018 the group appointed former long-serving Michael Hill CEO Mike Parsell as its new managing director, through a business partnership that coincided with the opening of a flagship store at Chadstone in Melbourne.
The group only had eight locations to its name at the time, meaning its store footprint has tripled over the past seven years in addition to the online business.
A release from FTI Consulting did not describe the underlying context behind the appointment, but notes the administrators are not in a position to guarantee that orders placed before 10 December 2025 will be fulfilled.
The administrators add that a gift card or store credit is permitted where the customer spends an equal or greater amount.
"The business is trading as usual as much as possible while the Administrators undertake an urgent assessment of the company’s operations, and have commenced a sales process and/or recapitalisation of the group," says Park, one of the administrators.
The group continues to trade, and the administrators claim that orders placed on or after the appointment date will be processed and shipped as normal, provided that stock is available.
They will be writing to creditors, suppliers and employees immediately regarding ongoing trading information and the first meeting of creditors, which is due to be held on 19 December.
Documents filed with the corporate regulator list Parsell as Secrets International's sole director, and one of the group's largest shareholders.
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