Simon Wolfson, Baron Wolfson of Aspley Guise (born 27 October 1967) is a British businessman and currently chief executive of the clothing retailer Next and a Conservative life peer. He is the son of former Next chairman David Wolfson, Baron Wolfson of Sunningdale, also a Conservative life peer.
He attended Radley College, near Abingdon, followed by studying law at Trinity College, Cambridge.[1] Wolfson joined Next as a sales consultant in its Kensington branch in 1991, the year his father was granted his peerage. The following year, he was taken on as assistant to Next's chief executive, David Jones.[2] Wolfson made his way up the ranks within the company rapidly, being appointed to the board of directors in 1997, and culminating in his appointment as chief executive in August 2001.[2] At the age of 33, this made him the youngest chief executive of a FTSE 100 company.[3] He was one of the first businesspeople to predict the 2008-9 economic crisis.[4]
He is a prominent supporter of the Conservative Party, having donated to David Cameron's campaign in the 2005 leadership election and co-chaired the party's Economic Competitiveness policy review. He was named by The Daily Telegraph as the 37th-most important British conservative in 2007.[5] He was one of 35 signatories to an open letter calling on the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, to press ahead with the coalition government's plans to reduce the public finance deficit in one term in the face of opposition. [6] This letter resulted in a boycott campaign against Next and the businesses of the other signatories.
Wolfson is known to be publicity shy. He owns houses in London and Leicester, where Next is based.[3]
On 18 June 2010, Wolfson was created Baron Wolfson of Aspley Guise, of Aspley Guise in the County of Bedfordshire, and was introduced in the House of Lords on 6 July 2010.[7]