Next is expected to report half-year sales of £3.5 billion and profit of £600 million when it unveils its results this week, with the retailer's long record of beating its own forecasts raising the prospect that the final figures could be even higher.
The results arrive a quarter of a century after Lord Wolfson took charge of the company. In that time he has built Next into Britain's biggest High Street clothing retailer, overtaking Marks & Spencer more than a decade ago.
M&S, which was founded in 1884, dominated British clothing retail for much of the twentieth century before Next's rise under Wolfson.
Next's share price has climbed from just under £10 to nearly £150 during Wolfson's tenure, a rise likened to the performance of the US technology giant Microsoft. The company is now valued at £17.5 billion.
Riding the 'Netflix effect'
Next sells its own-brand clothing alongside hundreds of other labels, including Reiss, Laura Ashley and The White Company, through its website. Reiss is known for tailoring and occasion wear, Laura Ashley is a heritage British interiors and clothing brand, and The White Company specialises in homeware and clothing.
Next has benefited from what has been described as the "Netflix effect," in which fashion styles worn in the streaming service's dramas prove popular with shoppers both in Britain and abroad. Wolfson, formally Lord Wolfson of Aspley Guise, sits as a Conservative peer in the House of Lords, and Next is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index of Britain's largest listed companies.
A tougher High Street
Next's results will be published against an increasingly difficult backdrop for British retailers. The discount chain Primark said last week that its sales were slowing, while the employee-owned John Lewis Partnership reported that its losses had doubled, blaming government policies including higher employer National Insurance contributions.
The rise in employer National Insurance contributions, brought in by the government, has been cited by several retailers as adding significantly to their staffing costs.
Wolfson has blamed the same tax rises for what he called a "dramatic fall" in entry-level opportunities for younger people. He has also warned that Labour's Employment Rights Act, a package of workplace reforms currently going through Parliament, poses a "wrecking ball" threat to jobs.
Equal pay victory
Next also claimed a "landmark victory" last week after winning an appeal against a 2024 court ruling that had compelled the company to pay its mostly female shopfloor staff the same as its mostly male warehouse workers. Similar equal pay claims involving shopfloor and warehouse staff have been brought against other major British retailers in recent years.
The case was brought under the Equality Act 2010, which gives UK workers the right to equal pay for work of equal value regardless of gender.
Harvey Nichols speculation
Wolfson is also expected to face questions at the results over why Next withdrew from the race to buy Harvey Nichols, the luxury Knightsbridge department store, allowing the retail entrepreneur Mike Ashley's Frasers Group to acquire it instead. Frasers Group, which also owns Sports Direct and House of Fraser, has built up stakes and ownership across a wide range of British retail brands in recent years.
Harvey Nichols traces its history to 1831 and is known for its flagship store close to Harrods, in one of London's most exclusive shopping districts.
There is speculation that Wolfson may have his eye on another acquisition target amid the wider difficulties facing the retail sector.
