Sir Michael Hill says although he's giving up the day-to-day running of his jewellery empire, that doesn't make him retired.
From November, Michael Hill Jeweller will be in the hands of his daughter Emma, who's been groomed for the job since she was at primary school.
"Emma is ready for it. The world's a young world, it's a changing world, and I want to pass the baton because she's very capable of doing it," Sir Michael said on the Paul Henry programme this morning.
"Emma's been right with me, and learnt the art of selling when she could just see over the counter… so she's well-trained and she's ready for the job."
The chain has just opened its 300th store, and Sir Michael says it's about to enter a new phase of growth.
"We've developed a very strong base, like a big platform for a rocket, really. A lot of people don't think we're doing anything, but we are.
"We've developed a huge base in North America, we're about to become number one in Canada – within the next 18 months we'll be the number one jeweller with about 80 shops, so we've got dominance there."
But the US is proving a harder diamond to crack.
"We're still losing money there – it's a very tough market. Nobody knows me… they don't know me, so it takes a long while to get going. It needs quantity, and it's a very tough market. We've learnt a lot from there."
Sir Michael now plans to focus on his newfound love of designing, rather than selling, jewellery.
"I've always been doodling and drawing and all sorts of things, cartoons, rings – but we put a range of my collection in the United States in New York when we opened, and to my surprise, 46 percent of the sales in that shop are my designs."
So don't call him retired.
"That really is something that won't happen. You need to keep going and moving, and the company is still the main objective for me to push on. I've got some great ideas – I'm going to be Michael Hill, designer."
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