Jacqueline Gold
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Jacqueline Gold (16 July 1960 – 16 March 2023) was a British businesswoman who was the executive chair of Gold Group International,
Ann Summers Ann Summers is a British multinational retailer company specialising in sex toys and lingerie, with 80 high street stores in the UK, Ireland, and the Channel Islands. In 2000, Ann Summers acquired the Knickerbox brand, a label with an emphas ...
, and Knickerbox. Gold was estimated to be the 16th richest woman in Great Britain, worth £470 million in 2019 according to The ''
Sunday Times Rich List The ''Sunday Times Rich List'' is a list of the 1,000 wealthiest people or families resident in the United Kingdom ranked by net wealth. The list is updated annually in April and has been published as a magazine supplement by British national ...
''.


Early life

Gold was born on 16 July 1960, the daughter of Beryl Hunt and businessman David Gold. Her father ran a publishing business which introduced sex magazines to the British high street. David apparently wept when Jacqueline was born to his first wife, because he wanted a son. She and her sister,
Vanessa Vanessa may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Vanessa'' (Millais painting), an 1868 painting by Pre-Raphaelite artist John Everett Millais * ''Vanessa'', a 1933 novel by Hugh Walpole * ''Vanessa'', a 1952 instrumental song written by Bernie W ...
, grew up in a spacious three-storey house with a large garden and a swimming pool at
Biggin Hill Biggin Hill is a town in the London Borough of Bromley, about south-southeast of Charing Cross. It is separated from London's built-up area by the Metropolitan green belt and is located adjacent to the Greater London boundary with Kent and ...
,
Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
. In August 2007, she was the main participant of the second episode of the
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
series, ''
The House I Grew Up In ''The House I Grew Up In'' is a BBC Radio series. The first episode of the first series was broadcast on 6 August 2007 on BBC Radio 4. With the presenter Wendy Robbins, each week an influential Briton explains some of their thoughts and memorie ...
'', in which she described an unhappy childhood. Her parents separated when she was twelve years old. Gold was sexually abused by her step-father.


Business career

After school, Gold began working for
Royal Doulton Royal Doulton is an English ceramic and home accessories manufacturer that was founded in 1815. Operating originally in Vauxhall, London, and later moving to Lambeth, in 1882 it opened a factory in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, in the centre of Engl ...
, but decided she did not want to go into management, and asked her father to help her gain some extra
work experience Work may refer to: * Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community ** Manual labour, physical work done by humans ** House work, housework, or homemaking ** Working animal, an ani ...
. Having acquired the four stores of the Ann Summers chain in 1972, her father gave her summer work experience in May 1979. Gold also did not like the atmosphere at Ann Summers, which was David Gold's "upmarket clean" sex shop. She said of her introduction: "It wasn't a very nice atmosphere to work in. It was all men, it was the sex industry as we all perceive it to be". However, following a chance invitation to a Tupperware party in 1981, she saw the potential of selling sexy
lingerie Lingerie (, , ) is a category of primarily women's clothing including undergarments (mainly brassieres), sleepwear, and lightweight robes. The choice of the word is often motivated by an intention to imply that the garments are alluring, fashio ...
and
sex toys A sex toy is an object or device that is primarily used to facilitate Sexual stimulation, sexual pleasure, such as a dildo, artificial vagina or Vibrator (sex toy), vibrator. Many popular sex toys are designed to resemble human genitals, and ma ...
to women in the privacy of their own homes. She launched the Ann Summers Party Plan, a home marketing plan for sex toys, with a strict "no men allowed" policy. The format provided the company with a sales outlet which avoided legal restrictions on displaying sex toys for sale. Gold was appointed CEO of Ann Summers in 1987, transforming it into a multi-million pound business, with a sales force comprising more than 7,500 women party organisers, 136 high street shops in the UK, Ireland and
Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...
and generating an annual turnover of £117 million in 2008, although sales and profits have fallen in recent years. The reported sales for the period 2006/7 were down somewhat to £110 million. They have since fallen back to 2002/3 levels. The takeover of Knickerbox in 2000 added another five shops, with Knickerbox concessions in every Ann Summers store. Her autobiography ''Good Vibrations'' was published in 1995. A second book ''A Woman's Courage'' was published in April 2007, and resulted in her being sued for libel by a former employee. ''A Woman's Courage'' was withdrawn from sale in November 2008 having been republished by Ebury on 7 February 2008 with three pages removed and re-titled ''Please Make It Stop''. The High Court libel action was settled in August 2009 when the former employee was paid costs and substantial damages. Gold was a columnist for ''
Retail Week Retail Week is a London-based news website, data service, events producer and previously a magazine covering the retail industry, primarily in the United Kingdom. History and profile Founded in 1988 by financial journalist Patience Wheatcroft ...
'', ''New Business'', '' Kent Business'', and ''Women Mean Business''.


Media

In March 2008, Gold appeared in a celebrity edition of '' The Apprentice''. She was a member of "The Girls" team, alongside
Kirstie Allsopp Kirstie Mary Allsopp (born 31 August 1971) is a British television presenter, best known as co-presenter of Channel 4 property shows including ''Location, Location, Location'', '' Love It or List It UK'', '' Relocation, Relocation'' and ''Locat ...
,
Clare Balding Clare Victoria Balding (born 29 January 1971) is an English broadcast journalist and author. She currently presents programmes for BBC Sport and Channel 4, and previously for BT Sport. She also formerly presented ''Good Morning Sunday'' on BBC ...
,
Louise Redknapp Louise Elizabeth Redknapp (née Nurding; born 4 November 1974), professionally known as Louise, is an English singer, dancer and media personality. She was a member of Eternal, an R&B girl group which debuted in 1993 with their quadruple-pla ...
and
Lisa Snowdon Lisa Snowdon
7 May 2001, ''People''
(born Lisa Snawdon; 23 January 1972) is an English television and ...
. "The Girls" won the contest raising over £400,000 from ticket sales and sales on the night through a big event at one of their West End stores. Gold was the subject of several documentaries including '' Back to the Floor'' (which was filmed at a former business prior to its closure), ''Ann Summers Uncovered'', ''So What Do You Do All Day'', '' Break with the Boss'', and co-presented the daytime business series '' Mind your own Business'' on
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
. She has also appeared on the
ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the ITV (TV network), Channel 3 ...
show '' Fortune – Million Pound Giveaway'', and in 2007, she was one of 12 well known individuals to serve on a jury in a fictional rape case in the
BBC TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios ...
project ''
The Verdict ''The Verdict'' is a 1982 American legal drama film directed by Sidney Lumet and written by David Mamet, adapted from Barry Reed's 1980 novel of the same name. The film stars Paul Newman as a down-on-his-luck alcoholic lawyer in Boston who acc ...
''.


Personal life and death

In 1980, Gold married lingerie manufacturer Tony D'Silva, which ended in divorce 10 years later. In 2002, she met Dan Cunningham, a City money broker, who was seventeen years her junior. Gold and Cunningham married in 2010 and were parents to daughter Scarlett. In May 2007, Gold and her younger sister, Vanessa, took part in the Walk the Walk charity MoonWalk in Hyde Park, London. Her twin children, a son and daughter, were born in 2009. The son, Alfie, died at eight months old, to a rare brain condition. In December 2010, a
nanny A nanny is a person who provides child care. Typically, this care is given within the children's family setting. Throughout history, nannies were usually servants in large households and reported directly to the lady of the house. Today, modern ...
working for Gold was charged with trying to poison her with screenwash. Allison Cox, who had been caring for Gold's daughter, was charged with three counts of administering poison with intent to annoy. In March 2011, Cox was sentenced to twelve months in prison after admitting administering poison with intent to annoy. Guildford Crown Court heard Cox was trying to get the chef who prepared the food into trouble by lacing two bowls of
asparagus Asparagus (''Asparagus officinalis'') is a perennial flowering plant species in the genus ''Asparagus (genus), Asparagus'' native to Eurasia. Widely cultivated as a vegetable crop, its young shoots are used as a spring vegetable. Description ...
soup Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot – though it is sometimes served chilled – made by cooking or otherwise combining meat or vegetables with Stock (food), stock, milk, or water. According to ''The Oxford Compan ...
with screenwash on 5 October 2010. Gold died on 16 March 2023, aged 62, after seven years of treatment for
breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...
. She died with her husband Dan, daughter Scarlett, sister Vanessa, and brother-in-law Nick, by her side.


Recognition

In 2007, Gold was voted the second Most Powerful Woman in Retail by ''
Retail Week Retail Week is a London-based news website, data service, events producer and previously a magazine covering the retail industry, primarily in the United Kingdom. History and profile Founded in 1988 by financial journalist Patience Wheatcroft ...
'', the Most Inspirational Businesswoman in the UK in a survey by
Barclays Bank Barclays PLC (, occasionally ) is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services ...
and handbag.com, one of Britain's Most Powerful Women by many publications including ''
Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...
'', ''
Good Housekeeping ''Good Housekeeping'' is an American lifestyle media brand that covers a wide range of topics from home decor and renovation, health, beauty and food, to entertainment, pets and gifts. The Good Housekeeping Institute which opened its "Experiment ...
'', and ''
Woman A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or Adolescence, adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functi ...
''
magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...
s, Business Communicator of the Year 2004, and was included in ''
Debrett's People of Today Debrett's () is a British professional coaching company and publisher and authority on etiquette and behaviour, founded in 1769 with the publication of the first edition of ''The New Peerage''. The company takes its name from its founder, John ...
'' from 2005 for her contribution to British society. Gold was appointed
Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
in the
2016 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2016 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...
for services to entrepreneurship, women in business and social enterprise.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gold, Jacqueline 1960 births 2023 deaths Businesspeople from the London Borough of Bromley Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Deaths from breast cancer in England English autobiographers English businesspeople in retailing English people of Jewish descent People from Bromley British women autobiographers Place of death missing British women chief executives 20th-century English businesswomen 20th-century English businesspeople 21st-century English businesswomen 21st-century English businesspeople