Next plc

The company was founded by Joseph Hepworth in Leeds in 1864 as a tailor under the name of Joseph Hepworth & Son.[6] Initially Hepworth was in partnership with James Rhodes, but the partnership was dissolved in 1872.[7]

On his own, Hepworth expanded the company rapidly, becoming a pioneer of the development of chain stores in Britain. By 1884 the company had 100 outlets.[8]

For much of its history Hepworth was predominantly in the ready-to-wear suit market.[9] In 1963, the company brought in the celebrated Savile Row designer Hardy Amies to help revitalise its ready-to-wear suit collection.[10]

In 1981, the company bought womenswear retailer Kendall and Sons for £1.75 million from the retail conglomerate Combined English Stores. This gave Hepworth over 600 shops in British high streets.[11]

The intention was to redevelop Kendall's stores as a womenswear chain of shops to complement Hepworth as a chain of menswear stores. Designer Terence Conran was Chairman of Hepworth at that time, and recruited George Davies to work at Kendall's. However, Davies's concept was to create a new chain, called Next, initially by converting Kendall's stores. The first Next shops opened on 12 February 1982, with the Kendall's conversion complete by the end of 1983.[6]

A branch of Next showing the old logos on Oxford Street in London in 2005

Appointed chief executive in 1984, Davies then converted 50 Hepworth stores to the Next format, extending the range to cover menswear. This allowed the development of mini department stores selling women's and men's clothes. This was added to by the introduction of Next interiors to stores which were deemed in the "right demographical areas." In 1986, Davies moved the group's headquarters from Leeds to Leicester, to be closer to the main garment manufacturers, and the company name was changed to Next plc.[6]

In 1987, the group acquired Combined English Stores and the Grattan catalogue company. Extending first to introduce Next childrenswear, Davies then introduced the Next Directory.[12][13]

By 1988, "after seven years of growth, Next had over-expanded suicidally" .. "some stores were not bringing in enough to pay the rent."[14] Davies was sacked and the share price fell to 7p.[14] Chairman Sir David Jones accused Davies of being egotistical and taking Next to the verge of bankruptcy.[15]

Next at Manchester Arndale

Next at Trinity Leeds

In October 1988 Next sold 433 jewellery stores in the United Kingdom, which principally traded under the Salisburys and Zales brands, to the Ratners Group for US$232 million.[16]

In late September 2006, Next opened a handful of new stores called Lime. These stores sold cheaper priced stock under the name of Lime. Lime was setup primarily as competition for low cost competitors such as Primark, Peacocks, Matalan and the clothing operations of supermarkets such as Tesco, ASDA and Sainsbury's.

The company bought the youth brand Lipsy in 2008.[17] In autumn 2009, Next launched an online catalogue for the United States offering clothing, shoes and accessories for women, men and children.[18]

Next's prices in Ireland attracted criticism in 2009 when the company was one of four retailers accused of failing to pass on exchange rate savings to shoppers in the Republic.[19]

In July 2010, a BBC investigation found Next was breaking the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 by billing customers for its delivery costs even if goods were returned within the seven working days.[20] A spokesman for Next admitted that they had been doing this for three years but promised to comply by August 2010.[20] Trading Standards said that the DSRs had been in force for ten years, and there was no excuse for not adhering to them.[20]

In 2014, Next launched localized cross-border sales to Ukraine.[21]

In May 2014 the Living Wage Foundation bought Next shares and attended the annual general meeting in an attempt to persuade the company to pay at least £6.70 and become one of the UK's 700 living wage employers. Next was targeted because it claimed to be a good employer and was thriving. Professor Sir George Bain, who set the minimum wage in 1999, said employers could afford to pay much more but acknowledged enforcement could cause unemployment in the retail sector.[22]

In October 2014, the company was one of several retailers criticised by Janice Turner in The Times for failing to pay a living wage. UK taxpayers pay £28 billion to low-paid workers through tax credits and Turner says retail companies – which have the highest proportion of low paid workers – are exploiting austerity and effectively adding staff wages to the UK welfare bill. When asked why despite record profits their lowest-paid workers were so poorly paid, Next replied that it had thirty applicants for every job advertised.[23]

Numbers are in millions of pounds: