London: Michael Rawlinson has resigned as CEO of the UK’s National Association of Jewellers (NAJ) to pursue other interests, the trade organization said Friday.
Rawlinson took charge of the NAJ in 2015, when the British Jewellers’ Association (BJA) and the National Association of Goldsmiths (NAG) merged to create the industry body. Rawlinson was previously CEO of the NAG and oversaw the unification.
“I have achieved what I set out to do when I joined the NAG,” Rawlinson said in a statement. “Four years ago, the possibility of joining together the two jewellery-industry trade bodies arose. From this moment, the prize of unifying the BJA and NAG was the goal.”
NAJ chairman Simon Johnson praised Rawlinson’s work managing both the merger process and the new organization’s office move to the trendy Clerkenwell district of London.
“Change of this size is no easy task, and he has achieved it with the support and backing of his team and the NAJ national committee,” Johnson added.
