NEXT Group PLC
Type	Public (LSE: NXT)
Founded	15th Sept 1982
Headquarters	Leicester, England, UK
Industry	Clothing Retail
Products	Clothing, accessories
Revenue	£3,329 million (2007)
Operating income	£537 million (2007)
Net income	£354 million (2007)
Employees	57,454 (2006)
Website	www.next.co.uk

Next on Oxford Street

Next plc is a British clothes retailer, with its headquarters in Enderby, Leicester, England. A public company usually refers to a company that is permitted to offer its registered securities ( Stock, bonds, etc The London Stock Exchange or LSE is a Stock exchange located in London, England. Leicester (ˈlɛstə is the largest city and Unitary authority area in the East Midlands of England, and is the traditional England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located For other uses of this term see Industry (disambiguation An industry (from Latin industrius, "diligent industrious" In Marketing, a product is anything that can be offered to a Market that might satisfy a want or need In business revenue or revenues is Income that a company receives from its normal business activities usually from the sale of goods and services The Pound Sterling ( symbol £; ISO code: GBP) subdivided into 100 pence (singular penny) is the Currency In financial and business Accounting, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT is a measure of a firm's profitability that excludes interest and income tax expenses The Pound Sterling ( symbol £; ISO code: GBP) subdivided into 100 pence (singular penny) is the Currency Net income is equal to the Income that a firm has after subtracting costs and Expenses from the total Revenue. The Pound Sterling ( symbol £; ISO code: GBP) subdivided into 100 pence (singular penny) is the Currency Employment is a Contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. A website (alternatively web site or Web site, a back-construction from the Proper noun World Wide Web) is a collection of Web pages Oxford Street is a major thoroughfare in London, England in the City of Westminster. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Clothing (also called clothes, accoutrements, accouterments, or habiliments) protects the Human body from extreme Weather Enderby is a village in the middle of Leicestershire, England. Leicester (ˈlɛstə is the largest city and Unitary authority area in the East Midlands of England, and is the traditional England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland It is one of the United Kingdom's largest clothing retailers, number three behind Marks & Spencer and Philip Green's retail empire of Bhs and Arcadia Group. Marks & Spencer Group plc (also M&S, Marks and Sparks, and Marks) is a British Retailer with 843 stores in more than 30 Sir Philip Green (born 15 March 1952) is a British billionaire businessman who owns some of the United Kingdom 's largest retailers Bhs or British Home Stores (formerly BHS and BhS) is a stalwart department store of the British High Street, selling clothing and household items The Arcadia Group is a British company that owns several of the most well-known High street clothing retailers in the UK 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 400 stores throughout the UK and the Republic of Ireland, and 50 franchise branches in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Alessandra Corine Ambrósio (born April 11, 1981 is a Brazilian model. Noémie Lenoir (born September 19, 1979) is a black French model and Actress. Yasmin Le Bon (née Parvaneh) born on October 29, 1964, in Oxford, England is an Iranian-English model. Gabriel Aubry (born January 4, 1976 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada) is a French Canadian model. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Ireland ( Irish: Éire, ˈeːrʲə is a country in north-western Europe. The Middle East is a Subcontinent with no clear boundaries often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. These are located at a mixture of high streets, shopping centres and retail parks. High Street, or the High Street, is a Metonym for the generic name (and frequently the official name of the primary Business street A shopping mall or shopping centre is a building or set of buildings that contain Retail units with interconnecting Walkways enabling visitors In the United Kingdom, a retail park is a grouping of many retail warehouses and superstores with associated Car parking Its North American

History

Next was founded in 15th Sept 1982 when J Hepworth & Son, a tailor in Leeds, bought Kendall & Sons Ltd, a Leicester based rainwear and ladies fashion company from Combined English Stores, to redevelop as a womenswear chain of shops called NEXT (Next PLC in turn took over Combined English Stores in 1987). Leeds ( is located on the River Aire in West Yorkshire, England Kendall and Sons Limited was an Umbrella, rainwear and ladies wear company founded in 1870 it was bought by Combined English Stores in 1977 and subsequently by Hepworths Leicester (ˈlɛstə is the largest city and Unitary authority area in the East Midlands of England, and is the traditional Terence Conran, owner of the chain, chose the retailer George Davies to head the new store. Sir Terence Orby Conran (born 4 October 1931) is an English Designer, Restaurateur, Retailer and Writer. George Davies (born 1941 is a British Fashion retailer who headed Next from its creation in the 1980s The first store was opened on 12th February 1982, and by 1984 all 80 of Kendall's stores had been converted to Next.

The same year (1984), the Hepworth's stores began to be converted to Next for Men. Later Next began to develop mini department stores selling women's, men's and children's clothes as well as furniture under one roof. Furniture is the Mass noun for the movable objects which may support the human body (seating furniture and beds, provide storage or hold objects on horizontal Some stores had included cafes although these were phased out in the early 1990s. In 1986 Next moved its head office from Leeds to Leicester and in the same year had purchased the catalogue company Grattan. Leeds ( is located on the River Aire in West Yorkshire, England Leicester (ˈlɛstə is the largest city and Unitary authority area in the East Midlands of England, and is the traditional This was later sold to Otto Versand in 1991 when Next encountered financial problems related to a recession. A recession is a contraction phase of the Business cycle. The U Some branches were sold to other retailers to avoid administration. Administration is a procedure under the Insolvency laws of a number of Common law jurisdictions which functions as a rescue mechanism for insolvent companies

Stand alone furniture shops called NEXT Home were opened in 2003. Next also sells around 21% of its merchandise through the Next Directory, a home shopping catalogue launched in 1988. All Next stores only sell their own brand label although recently some small scale branded products have been seen such as trainers from Gola and Morphy Richards electrical goods. Gola is a sporting goods manufacturer based in the United Kingdom. Morphy Richards is a leading business firm located in the Swinton Meadows Industrial Estate Swinton near Mexborough, South Yorkshire. 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 underwear. Calvin Klein Inc is an American fashion brand founded in 1968 by Calvin Klein. The Next Directory now sells a large variety of electrical goods both through the catalogue and online in addition to a new 'brands' section. The Next website has recently seen the addition of a large brand section with names such as Firetrap, Levi's and Rock and Republic. Firetrap is a high-end clothing company Formed in 1993 Firetrap has stores in London, Leeds, Liverpool, Milan, Berlin, Belfast Levi Strauss & Co (LS&CO is a privately held Clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's brand of Denim Jeans. Rock & Republic is an American Jeans brand founded by fashion mogul Michael Ball in 2002 Currently the largest branch of Next is the branch in the Manchester Arndale Centre that opened in October 2005. Manchester Arndale (known locally as The Arndale Centre or just The Arndale) is a large Shopping centre in Manchester City Centre,

Next produces an internal magazine called 'The Faith Restorer' magazine. This includes news related to new store openings, recent events (such as staff parties), good customer service and the famous 'What not to say' column that reports on recent complaints and advises employees on how to avoid them in the future. Customer service (also known as Client Service) is the provision of service to customers before during and after a purchase

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. A courier is a Person or company employed to deliver Messages packages and Mail. 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. In Typography, "roman" type has two principal meanings both stemming from the stylistic origin of text typefaces from inscriptional capitals used in 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 bacground 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 obove the "T" crossbar, similar to Garamond and others that had more in common with Times New Roman. Garamond is the name given to a group of old style serif Typefaces named for the punch-cutter Claude Garamond (c Times New Roman is a Serif Typeface commissioned by the British newspaper The Times, in 1931, designed by Stanley

As of 2007 a brand new logo showing a lower case Akzidenz Grotesk next logo has been introduced, although the previous logo in use since 1991 continues to be used throughout marketing, directories and carrier bags for now until all consumables that carry the old design have been exhausted. Akzidenz-Grotesk is a realist Sans-serif Typeface originally released by the H

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. Alessandra Corine Ambrósio (born April 11, 1981 is a Brazilian model. Yasmin Le Bon (née Parvaneh) born on October 29, 1964, in Oxford, England is an Iranian-English model. [1]

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'. Next plc ( is a British clothes Retailer, with its headquarters in Enderby, Leicester. It stars Brazilian supermodel Alessandra Ambrosio. Alessandra Corine Ambrósio (born April 11, 1981 is a Brazilian model. The campaign is aimed towards young working women. ^[1] All extra casts are Next employees, otherwise nicknamed 'nextras'. A second advert, also featuring Ambrosio, was screened during November 2007, using the Louis Armstrong song 'Cool Yule. ' 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 again features Alessandra Ambrosio and Paul Sculfor. The song used in the latest advertisement is mas que nada sung by Ava Leigh. It is currently available for download on itunes.

Subsidiaries of Next

Other than the core Next retail chain and the directory Next also own subsidiaries including:

• There are a number of stores owned by Next known as Next Clearance which sell previous seasons stock at a lower price than the core Next stores, they also have introduced some clothing just for next clearance.
• In late September 2006 Next opened a handful of new stores called Lime. These stores sell cheaper priced stock under the name of Lime. The first branches opened in Derby, Nottingham, Newbury, Douglas in the Isle of Man, Wigan and Llandudno. Derby (pronounced "dar-bee" /dˈɑːbɪ/ is a city in the East Midlands of England. Nottingham ( is a city in the Ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire, England. Newbury is a Civil parish and the principal Town in the west of the County of Berkshire in England. The Isle of Man (Ellan Vannin ˈɛlʲən ˈvanɪn or Mann (Mannin) is a self-governing Crown dependency, located in the Irish Sea at the geographical Wigan is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the River Douglas, south of Preston, west-northwest of Manchester Llandudno (pronounced /ɬan'dɪdnɔ/ is a Seaside resort and Town in Conwy, Wales. In November 2007 Lime Opened in MetroCentre, Gateshead which is one of the largest shopping centres in Europe. MetroCentre is the second most visited shopping centre in the UK attracting 24 million visitor a year In terms of retail area it's regarded as the largest Mall in the Gateshead is a town in Tyne and Wear, England. It lies on the southern bank of the River Tyne, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne. 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. Matalan is a clothing and homeware store in the United Kingdom. Tesco plc is a British -based international grocery and general merchandising retail chain Asda is a United Kingdom Supermarket chain which retails food clothing and general merchandise J Sainsbury plc ( is the parent company of Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd commonly known as Sainsbury's (also Sainsbury and JS) the third largest [2]

• It was decided by the company to cease trading of the Lime brand in early 2008. Stores with long leases will be converted in temporary childrenswear or home stores. For example, the Lime Store in the MetroCentre, Gateshead is opening as childrenswear store. Staff have been redeployed to other stores within the company

• Next own the call centre operator of Ventura. [3]
• Next own the sourcing company of Next Sourcing Limited.

Stores

Next have over 400 stores located around the world. They are in locations such as the United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Iceland and Ireland as well as in other parts of the world such as Dubai, India and soon to open in Hong Kong. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland ( ( Ísland or Lýðveldið Ísland ( Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world Dubai (in دبيّ,) is one of the seven emirates and most populous city of the United Arab Emirates (UAE India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Hong Kong ( officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located on China 's south coast on the Pearl River Delta, and borders 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 in some cases. The chains largest store is located within the Manchester Arndale centre. Manchester Arndale (known locally as The Arndale Centre or just The Arndale) is a large Shopping centre in Manchester City Centre, It is featured over 4 floors and is 82,000 sq ft (7,600 m²) in size. However the company plan to open their flagship store in Leicester, when the renovation and extension work to the Shires shopping centre is complete. The Lakeside Shopping Centre Store in Grays Essex converted the roof to add 3 floors to the store.

Currently the second largest Next store is located in Church Street, Liverpool. The biggest Clearance store is located in Oxford.

Franchise

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. There are currently 27 stores in Japan.

Next Sales

Next discount sales are very popular events usually occurring four times a year, two at the end of seasons and two mid-season. Discounts and allowances are reductions to a basic Price of goods or services Queuing for the sales starts early with people arriving at times as early as 2 am to wait for the store to open at 5 am. Sales involve most of the store staff and extra temporary staff are usually hired as well to cope with demand, where generally every permanent staff member is put onto the rota to work during the sale, and must then provide a valid reason if they cannot work. Generally discounts start at 50%, especially during the end-of-season sales, with the discounts rising after the official sale has ended and when the company wishes to sell off all remaining stock.

References

External links

• Next's main website
• Next's corporate website
• Yahoo Finance profile
• Business analysis and history
• Xebio's Next website