Simon Adam Wolfson, Baron Wolfson of Aspley Guise (born 27 October 1967), is a British businessman and currently chief executive of the clothing retailer

Next plc Next plc, trading as Next (styled as NEXT) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational clothing, footwear and home products retailer, which has its headquarters in Enderby, Leicestershire, Enderby, England. It has around 700 stores, of ...

, as well as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

. He is the son of the former Next chairman, The Baron Wolfson of Sunningdale, who was also a Conservative life peer.

Family and education

Wolfson's great-grandfather, Solomon Wolfson, was a

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 ...

cabinet-maker who settled in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

and had nine children, one of whom was Sir Isaac Wolfson, Simon's great uncle, who made his fortune through

Great Universal Stores GUS plc was a FTSE 100 retailing, manufacturing and financial conglomerate based in the United Kingdom. GUS was an abbreviation of Great Universal Stores, the company's name before 2001, while it was also known as the ''Glorious Gussies'' amon ...

. Wolfson's father, Lord Wolfson of Sunningdale, was a former chairman of Next and Great Universal Stores, as well as being a Conservative life peer. Wolfson is the eldest of three siblings. He attended

Radley College Radley College, formally St Peter's College, Radley or the College of St. Peter at Radley, is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (independent boarding school) for boys near the village of Radley, in Oxfordshire, in the United Kingd ...

, near Abingdon, followed by studying law at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

Business career

Wolfson joined Next as sales assistant in its

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

branch in 1991. The following year, he was taken on as assistant to Next's chief executive, David Jones. Wolfson was elevated within the company rapidly, being appointed to the board of directors in 1997, culminating in his appointment as chief executive in August 2001 but leading at least one city analyst to make allegations of nepotism. At the age of 33, this made him the youngest chief executive of a

FTSE 100 The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is the United Kingdom's best-known stock market index of the 100 most market capitalisation, highly capitalised ...

company. He was one of the first businesspeople to predict the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

. In 2021, his pay package at Next was £3.4 million.

Relationship with staff

In 2013, Wolfson waived his £2.4 million bonus and gave it to the staff of Next who had been with the company since 2010. Wolfson earned £4.6m in 2013, at a time when the average pay of Next employees was £10,000. This led the GMB trade union, supported by musician

Paul Heaton Paul David Heaton (born 9 May 1962) is an English singer-songwriter. He was the lead singer and main lyricist of the Housemartins, who had commercial success in the UK and other European countries between 1985 and 1988, releasing several singl ...

, to tour Next shops presenting anti-social behaviour awards to managers for their failure to provide a living wage. In 2014, for a second successive year, Wolfson waived his bonus and distributed it among staff, sharing some £3.8m. In May that year, ''

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 ...

'' reported that Next staff would be up to £1000 a year worse off, after the company decided not to pay a premium for staff working on a Sunday. Those refusing a change of employment terms were allegedly told they risked being made redundant. The GMB union accused Wolfson of having a "total disregard for family life." In April 2017, the salaries of some of Next's most senior staff were cut, following a 3.8% fall in profits, though Wolfson's salary was raised by 1%.

Political views

Wolfson is a prominent supporter of the Conservative Party, having donated to

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

's campaign in the 2005 leadership election and co-chaired the party's Economic Competitiveness policy review. He was named by ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' as the 37th-most important

British conservative The Conservative and Unionist Party, commonly the Conservative Party and colloquially known as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. The party sits on the Cent ...

in 2007. He was one of 35 signatories to an open letter calling on the

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and the head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, t ...

George Osborne George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born 23 May 1971) is a British retired politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the Cameron government. A ...

, to press ahead with the coalition government's plans to reduce the public finance deficit in one term in the face of opposition. On 18 June 2010, Wolfson was created The Baron Wolfson of Aspley Guise, ''of

Aspley Guise Aspley Guise is a village and civil parish in the west of Central Bedfordshire, England. In addition to the village of Aspley Guise itself, the civil parish also includes part of the town of Woburn Sands, the rest of which is in the City of Milt ...

in the County of Bedfordshire'', and was introduced in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

on 6 July 2010.

Views on Brexit

Wolfson was reported as being a supporter of

Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...

in 2016. Following the success of the Leave campaign, Wolfson said Britain's success depended on international trade negotiations. In January 2017 Wolfson said the Government should declare its negotiating objectives and not rush things. In 2022, Wolfson suggested a tax on recruiting foreign workers as trade off to allow greater numbers of foreign workers into Britain.

Open Europe

In December 2016, Wolfson was appointed to the Chair of the Open Europe think-tank.

The Wolfson Economics Prize

Wolfson is the founder of the £250,000

Wolfson Economics Prize The Wolfson Economics Prize is a £250,000 economics prize, the second largest economics prize in the world after Nobel. The Wolfson Prize is sponsored by The Baron Wolfson of Aspley Guise, CEO of retailer Next plc, and run in partnership with ...

Personal life

Wolfson married Eleanor Shawcross, daughter of

William Shawcross Sir William Hartley Hume Shawcross (born 28 May 1946) is a British journalist, writer, and broadcaster. He is the incumbent Commissioner for Public Appointments. From 2012 to 2018 he chaired the Charity Commission for England and Wales. Shawcr ...

, in 2012. They had a son in 2013. He owns houses in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Arms

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolfson, Simon 1967 births Living people People educated at Radley College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge British businesspeople in retailing Conservative Party (UK) life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II English Jews British Eurosceptics People from Aspley Guise Jewish British politicians Sons of life peers Wolfson Simon