Next plc

NEXT Group PLC

Company type	Public (LSE: NXT)
ISIN	GB0032089863
Industry	Clothing
Founded	1864 as Joseph Hepworth & Son 1982 as Next
Headquarters	Enderby, Leicestershire, United Kingdom
Products	Clothing, accessories
Revenue	£3,271.5 million (2009)
Operating income	£478.3 million (2009)
Net income	£302.3 million (2009)
Number of employees	59,088 (2009)
Website	www.next.co.uk

Next on Oxford Street in London

Next plc (LSE: NXT) is a British retailer, with its headquarters in Enderby, Leicestershire, England. The company, which has employed some of the biggest names in the fashion world including Alessandra Ambrosio, Noémie Lenoir, Yasmin Le Bon, Gabriel Aubry and Paul Sculfor, has over 550 stores throughout the UK and the Republic of Ireland, and 50 franchise branches in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Next have also recently made available their online directory service to places such as the United States and New Zealand, allowing customers in those countries to purchase next products online though no retail stores have opened up in those areas as of yet. These are located at a mixture of high streets, shopping centres and retail parks. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

History

The company was founded by Joseph Hepworth in Leeds in 1864 as a tailor under the name of Joseph Hepworth & Son.

In 1982 the company bought Kendall & Sons Ltd, a Leicester based rainwear and ladies fashion company from Combined English Stores, to redevelop their stores as a womenswear chain of shops. Terence Conran, the designer, was Chairman of Hepworth's at this time and he recruited George Davies.

Briefed to come up with a concept that would bring profitability to Kendalls, Davies' response was a blueprint which became NEXT, now the third most successful high street chain in the UK after Marks and Spencer and BHS/Arcadia Group.

The first NEXT shops opened on 12 February 1982, with the Kendall's conversion complete by the end of 1983. Based around "the total concept look," it encouraged customers to mix and match within a style, resulting in customers having both trend and buying more. The average NEXT customer would buy five items, as opposed to the one they had entered the shop originally to buy.

Made chief executive in 1984, Davies then converted the 50 Hepworths stores to the NEXT format, extending the total concept look at the same time to cover menswear. This allowed the development mini department across the entire footprint, selling women's and men's and 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 groups headquarters from Leeds to Leicester, to be closer to the main garment manufacturers. The groups name changed to NEXT plc.

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.

At the same time, Davies launched the NEXT account card.

The pressures of ever-increasing growth and expansion demanded by the analysts in the city caused NEXT to go through turbulent times in 1988. Under new chairman Sir David Jones, Davies' expansion plans and diversification of the brand were cited as one of the causes for the share price dropping. In December 1988, Davies was sacked from Next by chairman Sir David Jones, who accused him of being egotistical and taking Next to the verge of bankruptcy.

In Autumn 2009, Next launched an online catalogue for the United States offering clothing, shoes and accessories for women, men and children.

Operations

Next sells some of its merchandise through the Next Directory, a home shopping catalogue launched in 1988. Most Next stores only sell their own brand label although recently a number of larger Next stores such as Meadowhall have begun to sell branded goods such as trainers from Gola and Morphy Richards electrical goods. More recently the company has begun to tap into the growing market for trendy men's underwear by stocking the latest styles of Calvin Klein and Vishal Vora underwear. The Next website has recently seen the addition of a large brand section with names such as Firetrap, Levi's and Rock and Republic.

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. A spokesman for Next admitted that they had been doing this for three years but promised to comply by August 2010. Trading Standards said that the DSRs had been in force for ten years, and there was no excuse for not adhering to them. "Although the majority of businesses ..are law-abiding, there is a small minority that are not and those are the companies we need to take action against."

Next produces an internal magazine called 'The Faith Restorer.' This includes reports on new store openings, recent events (such as conferences or news on advertising campaigns), contributions provided by stores, good customer service and the 'What not to say' column that reports on recent complaints and advises employees on how to avoid them.

Senior management

	role	salary	bonus	total
Simon Wolfson	Chief Executive Officer	£675,000	£123,000	£798,000
David W. Keens	Group Finance Director	£450,000	£82,000	£532,000
Christos E. Angelides	Group Product Director	£470,000	£85,000	£555,000
Andrew J. Varley	Group Property Director	£335,000	£61,000	£396,000

Logos and Marketing

Next logo used from 1991

Next Directory logo

Until circa 1991 Next used a lower case Courier-style typeface in black against a white background for its logo. This was replaced by the capitalised NEXT logo in a Roman-serif style type face that is still widely used in stores and corporate marketing. There have been some variations of this such as the logo with each letter of NEXT in an individual square and in some stores in 2005/6 had the Next logo in a varying blue & black background with "X's" printed on them, as opposed to the black background. In addition, some variations in typeface occurred during the logo's use - including similar fonts that had serifs positioned above the "T" crossbar, similar to Garamond and others that had more in common with Times New Roman.

As of 2007 a brand new next logo has been introduced, although the previous logo in use since 1991 continues to be used throughout marketing, directories, carrier bags and coat hangers for now until all consumables that carry the old design have been exhausted. Generally, the old logo will now only be seen on shopping baskets in older stores, a small quantity of hangers, some price tickets and directories pre-Spring 2007.

For a long period in recent years Next has marketed only to advertise an impending sale usually through brief television spots and newspaper advertising and in and out of stores. However recently billboard advertising featuring Alessandra Ambrosio and later in 2007 Yasmin Le Bon have advertised the stores womenswear. In September 2007, to celebrate its 25th anniversary, Next launched its first television campaign in 12 years named 'Ali's Party' with the song 'Suddenly I See'. It stars Brazilian supermodel Alessandra Ambrosio. The campaign is aimed towards young working women. All extra casts are Next employees, otherwise nicknamed 'nextras'. A second advert, also featuring Ambrosio, was screened during November 2007. Throughout the period when the adverts were being aired the songs were regularly played instore. The third advert in the series has been filmed in Brazil and features Emanuela De Paula. The song used in the latest advertisement for Autumn/Winter 2008 is She's So Lovely by Scouting for Girls.

Next clothing often carries reference to the origins of the company in 1982 with use of "82" or "1982" as a design feature on clothes in all ranges.

For the Autumn/Winter 2010 Next launched a new French-themed TV advert on 10 September 2010. It was filmed on the banks of the river Seine and in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower to reflect this season’s Parisian chic styles. This is the second Next television commercial directed by English photographer Ben Watts, whose work has appeared in international fashion magazines such as Elle, Vogue and Vanity Fair. It is soundtracked by The Specials’ "A Message to You, Rudy". Modelling Next’s new collections in the advert are Brazilian model Emanuela de Paula, American model Amy Hixson, French “cool dude” Didier N’Gozinzonga and Spanish actor Jon Kortajarena. Next recently signed up to become a London 2012 Olympic Games sponsor and will provide uniforms and suits for technical officials and organising committee staff. Next also saw its profits soar by 18% earlier this year, reporting retail sales of £3,406m for the year ending January 2010. LINK Next signs as London 2012 Games sponsor.

Other businesses

Next also own the following businesses:

• Next Clearance which sell previous seasons stock at a lower price than the core Next stores. They use the old Next logo.
• Lime which sells cheaper priced stock. The first branches opened in Oxford, Derby, Nottingham, Newbury, Glasgow, Douglas in the Isle of Man, Liverpool and Llandudno in 2006. In November 2007 Lime opened in the MetroCentre, Gateshead. The Lime stores replace existing Next outlets which have since moved to larger premises nearby. Lime-branded items are also now stocked at larger Next Clearance stores. 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 Lime brand was discontinued in early 2008. Stores with long leases are being converted in temporary childrenswear or home stores. For example, the Lime Store in the MetroCentre, Gateshead opened as temporary childrenswear store before being converted into a Lipsy store. All Lime stores have now closed, the last one was on the Isle of Man.
• Ventura which is a call centre operator.
• Next Sourcing which sources products.
• www.branddirectory.co.uk which was an internet outlet with top name brands aimed at fashionable youths. This was closed as a dedicated site in early 2010, and has been replaced with a re-direct to the main Next website's Branded section.
• Lipsy - Women's fashion retailer

Stores

Next's largest store in the Arndale Centre in Manchester.

Next have 568 stores located around the world. They are in locations such as the United Kingdom, Denmark, Iceland and Ireland as well as in other parts of the world such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Ras al Khaimah, Algeria, Bulgaria, India, Pakistan and Kuwait and Hong Kong. The stores range in size and goods. While most stores feature mainly fashion, some also include homewares and furniture as well, classing the store as a department store. The largest next store to date is in the Manchester Arndale Centre stocking the full department store range of next products.

All non UK and Ireland stores with the exception of Copenhagen, Denmark are franchises. One of the largest franchises is in Japan, operated by Xebio.

Next launched a US online catalogue in 2009 offering clothing, accessories and shoes for women, men and children.

Sales

Next discount sales usually occur four times a year, two at the end of seasons and two mid-season. Queuing for the sales starts early with people arriving at times as early as 2 am to wait for the store to open as early as 4am.

Next market the sale by informing customers on receipts printed up to three weeks before the sale starts, leaflets available at the till and by using national television adverts aired the night before the sale.

The prices that Next charge in Ireland, compared to the UK, has attracted criticism.

See also

• Evans
• M & S

External links

• Official website