The extraordinary survival of Next – the cockroach of the high street

A fashion PR once told me that her clients almost always have the same demands: for their clothes to be featured regularly in Vogue and worn by Alexa Chung, and for at least one item to become a cult classic. Next has failed at all three. And yet the brand has quietly become the biggest success story on the British high street, standing strong throughout the pandemic while major players like Topshop and Debenhams collapse around it.

Next’s powerhouse status was cemented on Thursday when it reported its Christmas results. They’re good – astonishingly so. Amid yet more retail doom and gloom caused by empty shops, cancelled Christmas parties and endless supply chain issues, Next’s sales were £70 million higher than expected, as a surge in online orders for glitzy skirts and smart suits made up for quiet stores.

In a statement, Next says it now expects to make £822 million in annual profits, £22 million more than it had previously hoped for. This means the brand has not only survived the pandemic, but grown by 10 per cent during two of the hardest years in retail history – a fact that puts it in stark contrast to Marks & Spencer, which has been struggling since 2016.

The enduring success of the British stalwart has always puzzled people in fashion circles. Nobody boasts about owning a Next jacket or skirt and the brand rarely rips off major designers. I can’t remember the last time it was behind the must-have dress of the season or the coat everybody wanted for winter – and yet it reliably has the longest queues on the high street as the Boxing Day sales begin.

“They are never fresh and forward, but that’s their strength,” says Eric Musgrave, retail consultant and former editor of industry magazine, Drapers. “They don’t take many risks, and they might be accused of being boring by fashion people but fashion people don’t shop there; normal people do.”

Next (like the Duchess of Cambridge) will imminently celebrate its 40th birthday, and part of its success can be attributed to the fact it has been steadfastly courting the same customers since its launch.

“There are too many places selling low cost, low quality and even tatty clothes,” said director George Davies, the day the brand opened the doors of its first branch in Leeds in February 1982. Selling only womenswear and with a focus on consumers outside London, Next did well immediately, and by the end of the decade, had hundreds of stores around Britain offering menswear, children’s clothes and interiors, as well as a thriving catalogue business.

Next wanted to be a safe pair of hands: a place where sizes remained the same year after year, collections didn’t suddenly go on sale and the fit was consistently good. It is no coincidence that most graduates coming into the workforce for about a decade bought their first suit from Next.

Much of this consistency is due to the work of one man. Next CEO, Lord Simon Wolfson, has been described as having one of the most brilliant business minds in Britain and his insights into what consumers actually want are consistently accurate.

Wolfson’s rise was meteoric. After graduating from Cambridge University in 1991, he joined Next’s Kensington branch as a sales consultant and within a decade was CEO – at just 33 years old. His father was the former chairman of the company and eyebrows were raised – although given Wolfson has delivered an estimated 1,973 per cent return for shareholders, perhaps nepotism isn’t always a bad thing…

Wolfson ensured Next was consistently ahead of the game. Where rival retailers such as Marks & Spencer were appointing new CEOs every few years, opening expensive city-centre stores and hiring top designers to create fashion-forward collections, Wolfson kept much of Next’s retail space out of London, choosing to invest in growing retail parks around the country where there was more space for a wide range of goods.

“Next became a modern version of a department store for a certain type of shopper,” says Musgrave. “Their target customer was a married woman with children, who could dress herself, her children and her husband under one roof and get things for the home.”

Instead of trying to design that one dazzling piece (something M&S hired entire design teams to do) Next offered the basics: every type of skinny jean, warm puffer jackets in six colours and well-cut T-shirt bras. Its designs do, of course, incorporate trends – but whereas Zara changes its aesthetic every year to fit with the endless shifts in fashion, Next does not.

Although trends mean more than just what we see on a catwalk. With the rise of fast-fashion in the 2000s, Wolfson realised that customers were no longer prepared to pay much for clothes – but that they would accept lower-quality designs so long as the price was right. The craftsmanship at Next duly changed, and those of us who bought pieces from the brand in the 1990s will remember that clothes were better-made than they are today. Some customers have mourned this dip in quality, but it was ultimately the right call, and the only way to fight off emerging competitors such as Primark.

Next Directory – the colourful catalogue that plopped through millions of letterboxes – also helped the brand move into the online sphere at the critical moment. This mail-order history ensured Next had the right infrastructure to get ahead fast, and its delivery service and returns options still stand out in the online sphere.

This applies to third party brands, as well, which Next has led the way on. It has partnered with Adidas, Oliver Bonas, Boohoo-owned Dorothy Perkins, Seasalt, Reiss, Monsoon and even Victoria’s Secret over the years. Wolfson’s expertise means that brands want to work under his umbrella and enjoy their ‘total platform’ service, with Next running their ecommerce, warehousing and logistics operations.

As for Wolfson himself – he is famously self-deprecating about his success, refusing to give interviews. After his last set of stellar results, he said, “General William Slim observed that, in battle, nothing is ever as good or as bad as the first excited reports would have it.”

The brand itself has never been radical but perhaps Wolfson is – he is never pictured flaunting his wealth on superyachts, but he is an extraordinary business leader, and has spent 20 years diligently getting to know his customer. In return, Next has been rewarded with a rare loyalty from the British people during a hugely fickle era of shopping.

The Next vs M&S shopping challenge: which is cheaper?

By Sophie Tobin

Men’s pyjamas

L to R: Brushed cotton PJ set, £29.50, marksandspencer.com; Cotton and polyester PJ set, £28, next.co.uk

Women’s skinny jeans

Organic cotton skinny jeans, £19.50, marksandspencer.com; Cotton skinny jeans, £24, next.co.uk

Women’s cashmere jumper

Cashmere crew neck, £79, marksandspencer.com; Cashmere jumper, £95, next.co.uk

 Men’s flannel shirt

Cotton flannel shirt, £29.50, marksandspencer.com; Cotton flannel shirt, £35, next.co.uk

Men’s boxer shorts

Cotton 4-pack boxers, £26, next.co.uk; Cotton 5-pack boxers, £25, marksandspencer.com

Women’s t-shirt bra

3-pack t-shirt bras, £18, marksandspencer.com; 3-pack t-shirt bras, £36, next.co.uk

Totals

M&S: £201.50

Next: £243