John Ayton

John Ayton MBE (born c. 1962/63) is a British entrepreneur and investor in the luxury goods sector. He read Modern History at Oxford University, graduating in 1983, then practiced corporate law in London and Hong Kong before leaving the profession in 1995. He subsequently served on the advisory board of US cosmetics group Halston Borghese Inc., where he was responsible for restructuring its Japanese and German operations.

In 1990, Ayton co-founded the luxury jewellery brand Links of London together with his wife, jewellery designer Annoushka Ducas (and co-founder Sarah Robinson). The company grew into a global brand with sales of over £50 million and was sold to Greek group Folli Follie SA in July 2006; Ayton stepped down in October 2007. In July 2009, he and Annoushka Ducas launched a new eponymous English fine-jewellery brand, Annoushka, where he serves as Co-Founder and Chairman.

Ayton was appointed MBE in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to the UK jewellery industry (an honour also awarded to Annoushka Ducas). Beyond his own brands, he has been an active figure in the British luxury establishment — he founded and chaired Walpole's "Brands of Tomorrow" mentoring programme (through to around 2014) and has served on the board of the luxury trade body Walpole. He and his wife were also ambassadors for the "Team 2012" Olympic fundraising campaign.

• Invests at the earliest (seed) stage, typically in emerging luxury and premium consumer brands where he can apply his own brand-building and retail experience.
• Acts as a hands-on mentor, advisor and chairman to founders rather than a passive check-writer — he has taken chairman roles at Bremont and Mr Hare.
• Looks for strong founders and products with international scaling potential, drawing on his experience building Links of London and Annoushka into global brands.
• Core sectors: jewellery, watches, fashion, direct-to-consumer/e-commerce, and food & drink, with occasional bets outside luxury (e.g. fintech).
• (Note: aggregator databases such as PitchBook and Tracxn also attribute later-stage/consumer names to him; specific check sizes are not publicly disclosed.)