Sir Ralph Mark Halpern (24 October 1938 – 10 August 2022) was a British businessman, who was the founder of

Topshop TOPSHOP (originally Top Shop) is a British online fast-fashion retailer, which specialises in women's clothing, shoes and accessories. It is majority owned by Danish company, Bestseller. In 2024, ASOS sold 75% of Topshop and Topman to Bests ...

and chief executive officer (CEO) of the

Burton Group Arcadia Group Ltd (formerly Arcadia Group plc and, until 1998, Burton Group plc) was a British multinational retailing company headquartered in London, England. It was best known for being the previous parent company of British Home Stores (B ...

from 1979 to 1991.

Early life

Ralph Halpern was born in October 1938 in London, after his

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

parents fled from the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

in the 1930s and emigrated to England, losing their fortune.

Career

Halpern joined

as a management trainee in 1961, and was directly involved in the establishment of Top Shop (above a Peter Robinson branch) in 1964. On the back of its success he progressed through the managerial ranks becoming chief executive in 1978. He turned it into a retail empire that dominated the British high street, with 2,800 stores and employing more than 60,000 people. With brands including Topshop, Dorothy Perkins, Debenhams, Principles, Racing Green and Evans, it was worth £1.8bn when Halpern was ousted by the board in 1991.

Personal life and death

Halpern was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

for "services to the retail industry" in the

1986 Birthday Honours Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in suppl ...

. He married Joan Donkin in 1967. They had a daughter,

Jenny Halpern Prince Jenny Halpern Prince (née Halpern) is a British businesswoman. Biography Prince was born in Kingston Upon Thames. She is the daughter of Sir Ralph Halpern and Lady (Joan) Halpern. Prince founded Halpern PR in 1993. Halpern was one of the ...

, and divorced in 1999. In 1987, he was linked by the British tabloids to a liaison with the page 3 model Fiona Wright, leading to a "five times a night" headline. In 2000, Halpern became a father again, aged 61, when his second wife and former secretary, Laura Blume, gave birth to a son. He and Laura were subsequently divorced in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

in 2007. Halpern died on 10 August 2022, at the age of 83.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halpern, Ralph 1938 births 2022 deaths Austrian emigrants to the United Kingdom Austrian Jews British Jews British chief executives British people of Austrian-Jewish descent Businesspeople from London Knights Bachelor