Hepworth The company was founded by
Joseph Hepworth in
Leeds in 1864 as a tailor under the name of
Joseph Hepworth & Son. Initially Hepworth was in partnership with James Rhodes, but the partnership was dissolved in 1872. 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. For much of its history Hepworth was predominantly in the ready-to-wear suit market. In 1963, the company brought in the celebrated Savile Row designer
Hardy Amies to help revitalise its ready-to-wear suit collection.
Kendall's and Next in London in 2005 In 1981, the company bought womenswear retailer
Kendall & Sons for £1.75 million from the retail conglomerate Combined English Stores. This gave Hepworth over 600 shops in British high streets. 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. By 1988, "after seven years of growth, Next had over-expanded suicidally", and "some stores were not bringing in enough to pay the rent". Davies was sacked and the share price fell to 7p. 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. The company bought the youth brand
Lipsy in 2008. In autumn 2009, Next launched an online catalogue for the United States offering clothing, shoes and accessories for women, men and children. 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. 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.
Wages controversy 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 £7.65 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. In October 2014, the company was one of several retailers criticised by journalist
Janice Turner in
The Times for failing to pay what she described as a living wage. Turner further argued UK taxpayers pay £28 billion to low-paid workers through
tax credits, and 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 to explain the salaries of lower-wage workers despite large profits, a Next spokesperson replied that the company had thirty applicants for every job advertised.
Next (Ireland), Next Germany, and further acquisitions outside Next on 10 February 2024 In September 2018, the company's Irish operations profits were separated from Next plc. Next (Ireland) Ltd was formally established to focus on the distribution of products in its physical stores and its online store in the Republic of Ireland. At the same time, Next Germany was established. In November 2022, it was announced Next had acquired the
London-headquartered furniture retailer,
Made.com, which in the same month had gone into
administration. In December 2022, the company entered into a joint venture with Tom Joule to buy The Joules Group out of administration for £34 million. Tom Joule retained 26% of the equity in the business. In March 2023, it was announced Next had acquired vintage fashion and homeware retailer
Cath Kidston out of administration for £8.5 million. The acquisition meant Next had bought the brand name, domain names and intellectual property, but remaining stock was to be sold off by administrators and the four Cath Kidston stores (London, York, Ashford, and Cheshire Oaks) were to shut. According to research of the Helena Kennedy Center for International Justice, the
Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, and further institutions published in December 2023, the company makes use of
forced labour of
Uyghurs provided by the
China-based supplier Beijing Guanghua Textile Group. In January 2026, it was announced that Next had acquired the British footwear retailer
Russell & Bromley through a pre-pack insolvency process. The transaction involved the purchase of the brand and selected assets, with administrators continuing to assess the future of the retailer’s physical store estate. ==Operations==