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 (styled as NEXT) is a British multinational clothing, footwear and home products retailer, which has its headquarters in Enderby, England. It has around 700 stores, of which circa 500 are in the United Kingdom, and circa 200 across Eu ...
, as well as a
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...
. 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 ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
cabinet-maker who settled in
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...
and had nine children, one of whom was
Sir Isaac Wolfson, Simon's great uncle, who made his fortune through
Great Universal Stores.
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, is a public school (independent boarding school for boys) near Radley, Oxfordshire, England, which was founded in 1847. The school covers including playing fields, a golf course, a lake, an ...
, near
Abingdon, followed by studying law at
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a 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 college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...
.
Business career
Wolfson joined Next as its most highly paid sales consultant ever, in its
Kensington branch in 1991 for several weeks, the year his father was granted his
peerage. 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 a share index of the 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange with (in principle) the highest market ...
company.
He was one of the first businesspeople to predict the
2008–9 economic crisis.
In 2021 his pay package at Next was £3.4 million.
Relationship with staff
In 2013, he 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
Paul Heaton
Paul David Heaton (born 9 May 1962) is an English singer-songwriter. He was the frontman of the Housemartins, who had success with the singles " Happy Hour" and the UK number one "Caravan of Love" in 1986 before disbanding in 1988. He then forme ...
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 ''
Retail Week
Retail Week is a London-based news website, data service, events producer and magazine covering the retail industry, primarily in the United Kingdom.
History and profile
Founded in 1988 by financial journalist Patience Wheatcroft and her husba ...
'' 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%.
Approach
Apparently Wolfson is focused on numbers, logic and reason. He is wary of stories that are "anecdotally true but empirically false";
but he is in favour of
Brexit
Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAE ...
.
Political views
Lord Wolfson of Aspley Guise is a prominent supporter of the
Conservative Party, having donated to
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...
'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 national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was f ...
'' as the 37th-most important
British conservative
The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party and also known colloquially as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party. It is the current governing party, ...
in 2007. He was one of 35 signatories to an open letter calling on the
Chancellor of the Exchequer,
George Osborne
George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born Gideon Oliver Osborne; 23 May 1971) is a former British 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 ...
, 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 Mil ...
in the
County of Bedfordshire'', and was
introduced in the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster ...
on 6 July 2010. As of March 2019; he has not attended the house since October 2018; has a less than average attendance record for the House, and has spoken in the House on only 3 occasions since his entering the House in 2010, well below average for the House.
He voted loyally to the Conservatives in favour of working
tax credit
A tax credit is a tax incentive which allows certain taxpayers to subtract the amount of the credit they have accrued from the total they owe the state. It may also be a credit granted in recognition of taxes already paid or a form of state "disc ...
cuts in October 2015.
Views on Brexit
Lord Wolfson of Aspley Guise has been described as the businessman most in favour of
Brexit
Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAE ...
, calling for radical change to prevent a long period of low growth. Talking to ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...
'', he predicted a very difficult 2016 for Next due to a change in customer spending habits rather than uncertainty surrounding Brexit.
Following the success of the
Leave campaign, whilst most businessmen urged the Government not to rush proceedings, Wolfson said Britain's success now depended on the tone of trade negotiations, including with China,
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
and other global economies. In January 2017 Wolfson, who had warned the UK economy would collapse if the government failed to get trade agreements in place, said the Government should declare its negotiating objectives and not rush things. Wolfson also blamed a "far worse than expected" slump in Next's share price and the issuing of a profit warning, on customers preferring non-clothing Christmas presents.
Open Europe
In December 2016, Wolfson was appointed to the Chair of the
Open Europe
Open Europe was a British centre-right eurosceptic policy think tank with offices in London and Brussels, merging with the Policy Exchange think tank in 2020.
Its stated mission was to "conduct rigorous analysis and produce recommendat ...
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 in London in 2012. They had a son in 2013/14.
He owns houses in London and
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 Mil ...
.
See also
*
Wolfson family
The Wolfson family is a British Jewish family known for its business, philanthropic, and political activities. The family owes its initial fame to Sir Isaac Wolfson, who built the Great Universal Stores retail empire and created the Wolfson Fou ...
References
{{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
See also Woolf, Woolfe, Wolff, Wolfson and Woolfson (especially for family names).
Wolfson or Volfson is a Jewish surname, and may refer to:
* David Wolfson, Baron Wolfson of Sunningdale (born 1935), British politician and businessman, nephew of ...