Bremont, the UK watch brand backed by billionaire Bill Ackman, hired the industry executive credited with relaunching the popular Tudor Black Bay as its new CEO.
(Bloomberg) — Bremont, the UK watch brand backed by billionaire Bill Ackman, hired the industry executive credited with relaunching the popular Tudor Black Bay as its new CEO.
Davide Cerrato will take on the role of chief executive officer and join the board of the UK’s largest independent maker of luxury watches, Bremont said in a statement Tuesday.
Cerrato is credited with relaunching industry giant Rolex SA’s sister brand Tudor for the international market over a decade ago. As head of marketing and product development, he oversaw the creation of the Black Bay, Tudor’s most successful line.
The hiring bolsters Bremont’s growth ambitions as it looks to compete with the long-established Swiss industry and revive watchmaking in the UK. Over two decades, Bremont has grown to produce about 10,000 watches a year and now boasts its own manufacturing facility, opened in 2021, making in-house movements.
The brand however, is currently unprofitable, according to its most recent UK regulatory filings.
Founded by brothers Nick and Giles English, Bremont scored a £48.4 million ($60.5 million) investment from activist investor Bill Ackman and existing majority shareholder Hellcat LP in January. The cash injection was aimed at expanding Bremont’s aviation and military-inspired watches in the US market.
Cerrato also previously headed the watch division at Richemont’s Montblanc and was most recently CEO and creative director of the boundary-pushing Swiss brand HYT.
“Davide is a proven world class executive who has spent his career leading successful transformations of watch brands and designing some of today’s most iconic watches,” Ackman said in the statement.
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