FACING the three men who had stormed his jewellery store and threatened to cut of his boss’ head, Will Hayward knew he would be lucky to escape alive if they didn’t get the cash they wanted.
The 44-year-old pleaded with them to let his staff go, forcing himself to stay calm as the shop emptied and he was left alone with the thugs who made it brutally clear what they were capable of.
At the time, Will was a general manager for luxury jewellery firm Vashi, witnessing firsthand how the company spiralled towards collapse as its eponymous owner Vashi Dominguez vanished.
Described as a “pied piper”, the flashy founder and CEO made his name as a smooth-talking diamond dealer, opening his first Vashi store in 2017.
Unlike any other jewellery brand, customers were given a novel experience where they could choose their diamond and see their jewellery piece made openly within the store.
Vashi quickly established itself as a high street name with stores in Birmingham and Manchester before unveiling a glossy flagship site in Covent Garden in 2021.
From the outside, Vashi looked unstoppable and was bolstered by high-profile publicity including an appearance on ITV’s This Morning, where he draped a glittering diamond necklace on Holly Willoughby.
But behind the scenes, Will claims the business was imploding with furious customers and investors marching into stores demanding money.
In April 2023, the business had collapsed and was around £170 million in debt with investors losing vast sums of cash – but by that time, Vashi had mysteriously disappeared and hasn’t been seen since.
‘WE’LL CUT OFF HIS HEAD’
Will told The Sun that nothing compared to the day three intimidating men, who he believed to be of a criminal background, walked into the London store demanding money they claimed Vashi owed them.
“We had one occasion, where some gentlemen came in asking for their money,” he recalled.
He says the men were calm but direct, making it extremely clear that they were prepared to use violence.
“They were men of very few words, but what they said was striking and quite terrifying in terms of the way they spoke,” Will said.
“Their words were, ‘If we find him, we will cut off his head and dump his body.’
“It was more of a threat to Vashi but also I was made to feel like if I didn’t get them Vashi, ultimately there might be implications for me.”
After receiving a frantic call from staff, Will had rushed to the store and found the men waiting – they reminded him of characters straight out of a movie.
Upon arrival, Will agreed with the men that the rest of the staff could leave, meaning he was alone with the trio as menacing tension filled the room.
The atmosphere felt deeply sinister, made worse by the fact that no-one from Vashi’s head office arrived to assist, despite the seriousness of the situation.
“I knew I couldn’t make a bad move in front of them,” Will recalled.
“Normally, someone from head office would come down to come and support me or speak to these people.
“No one came down, which was awful – but a bit understandable.”
Will sat in agonising silence with the thugs, mulling over whether he should make small talk to relieve the tension while trying to avoid contact with customers browsing the store’s window.
He tried in earnest not to reveal the terror he was feeling so as not to arouse suspicion.
He said: “It was an aggressive atmosphere, you knew you couldn’t really move. It was a bit sinister, the feeling of threat was there without them doing it.
“They didn’t need to say anything for me to realise, ‘S*** I’m in trouble here.’”
After an agonising wait, the men received a mysterious phone call before leaving without a word.
It remains unclear who placated the thugs.
The incident left Will reeling and he headed straight for home saying he was on “autopilot” and in a daze.
He remembers thinking to himself: “All the money in the world isn’t worth this s***.”
The terrifying incident was the culmination of a tumultuous time at Vashi for Will, who admits he was “sold a dream” when he became general manager in September 2022.
‘IT TURNED OUT TO BE A CRAZY CULT’
Will started out at Vashi as a store manager in 2021 before becoming general manager for seven months between September 2022 and March 2023.
He oversaw the brand’s stores in Westfield, Canary Wharf and Bank during that time and revealed how the empire started to unravel.
When asked why he joined Vashi, Will said: “They had an astonishing recruitment team that really went out and found the best talent. And it was sold on a dream and this vision of where the business was going to go.
“You had a sense of feeling that you were part of some movement. Ultimately, it turned out to be a crazy cult.”
‘THIS SHIP IS SINKING’
In a sign of the chaos to come, Will said staff were summoned to a meeting at Vashi’s flagship Covent Garden store soon after he joined the firm.
They were told they weren’t going to be paid because of “cashflow issues”, sparking panic across the workforce.
Will said: “The people who complained and asked questions were almost singled out – as in, ‘We need to get rid of them, how dare they question the business?’
“It created a horrible atmosphere of authoritarianism.
“It was handled really, really badly – you’re dealing with people’s money and if people work for you, you should pay them.
“That’s when the first major signs where I was thinking this ship is kind of sinking.”
Despite assurances, Will said the months dragged on without pay for staff which took a devastating emotional and financial toll.
“Rolling into the third month or fourth month of people not getting paid was just horrific mentally for everyone,” Will recalled.
He said colleagues were falling behind on rent, defaulting on their mortgage payments and struggling to buy food.
By the end of 2022, no money had materialised.
“I remember I had one team member who wanted to go home for Christmas Day, they didn’t have any food in the house,” Will said.
“They were behind on their rent. It was either I buy them a ticket to go back home to their family and have Christmas or they were spending Christmas by themselves with no food – I bought a train ticket for them.
“Another team member didn’t have money for Christmas presents for their little girl so I gave them some money to go and get a Christmas present for their kids.
“I had to be strong for my team. A lot of them didn’t have anywhere to go.”
Will said he wasn’t being paid either and was in “anguish” at having to use his savings to keep himself “financially alive”.
And when money did finally appear, Will claims he was forced to have conversations with directors on who was the most desperate to be paid, like some “financial God”.
‘VASHI WAS A PLAYBOY’
Despite the chaos, Will said Vashi assured staff that he would sort things out, visiting the Covent Garden store and sending out emails to put their minds at ease.
“The one thing that everyone will say about Vashi is that he’s very charismatic,” Will said.
“He was almost a bit of a pied piper. He very much knew how to spin a yarn to you, to get you to believe him in whatever narrative or story.
“He’s a typical salesperson, charming, seems professional, seems sophisticated. He’s very credible as a person when you spoke to him.
“But it was all just a house of cards built on sand with lots of s*** being dumped on top of it.”
Meanwhile, Vashi remained focused on dazzling investors, deploying that charm and charisma to present a booming business according to Will.
Retail staff were told to sit at work benches during investor walk-throughs, a situation Will described as “treating people like kids in a strict classroom”.
“There was a lot of fakery – people being forced to sit on chairs to the point staff weren’t allowed to get out of the chairs if they needed to go to the toilet,” he claims.
“You couldn’t leave that seat without someone else sitting in that seat, which was utterly ridiculous.
“It wasn’t appropriate – ordering people to sit in a chair when they’re not getting paid.”
Customers suffered too as jewellery ordered for big events such as engagements and weddings were repeatedly delayed, with delivery times stretching from weeks to months.
“It went from nine weeks to 12 weeks to 15 weeks then it was – it will get made when it gets made,” Will added.
And investors would appear urgently looking for Vashi after putting money into the business.
Will recalled: “One investor came in and told the team, ‘You guys need to get out the business, I’ve been told Vashi is in Miami on a yacht.’”
Upon calling the head office, Will was told Vashi was in fact in America trying to get investor money.
“There were lots of stories of him being a party boy, that he loved to be that kind of play boy,” he explains.
‘WHERE’S VASHI?’
Will’s traumatic run in with the thugs occurred just before he left his role at Vashi – the incident prompted him to start telling staff to lock the doors and get another job as quickly as possible.
When he eventually left Vashi himself for another role, he managed to take six people from his former employer with him.
To this day, Will and his former colleagues stay in touch through Whatsapp groups titled “Surviving Vashi” or “PTSD Vashi”.
“It’s like a survivors group. It’s honestly cathartic. We all still talk about it and its within our minds and unfortunately, it’s staying with us and it’s a horrible time to reflect on,” he says.
“But it’s brought us really close together. I’ve made a lot of life friends and it’s a big support network. It’s great.
“I truly believe a lot of people are a lot wiser now and not putting up with b******* when they kind of see it within the workplace.
“It was definitely character building.”
Rumours swirled among former staff as to the missing mogul’s whereabouts after the company collapsed owing £170m in 2023.
“The biggest one I heard was that he fled to Israel with a load of diamonds – no confirmation but it was possibly the most credible thing that I heard,” Will says.
“I would hear stuff like, I saw Vashi at the Olympics on TV, that he’s racing around in Dubai with a Ferrari, starting another business in China, or on the run from Interpol in America.
“I’m just surprised the government department and police haven’t gone ahead and put out a big international search, because £170 million is a lot.”
Vashi’s disappearance meant The Sun was unable to go to him for comment on the allegations.
