Son of former Next chief steps in

A 33-year-old who has spent all his working life at fashion chain Next has been named as the group's new chief executive.

Multimillionaire Simon Wolfson, the son of former Next chairman Lord Wolfson, will take over the top job in August, when current chief executive David Jones moves to become full-time deputy chairman.

Mr Jones, 59, will then move into the chairman's job, on a part-time basis, when current chairman Sir Brian Pitman retires next year.

Mr Wolfson's promotion was not unexpected - he was made a director of the business aged 29 and has been managing director of the Next brand for two years.

His appointment was confirmed by Sir Brian at the Next annual general meeting. Sir Brian told shareholders: "He has already proved himself as a key driving force through a number of challenging tasks and is a worthy successor to David Jones."

Mr Jones said: "He reminds me of me when I was 32, when I was also chief executive. He is very bright, very good and shares my philosophy. He has got very good common sense, an analytical brain, he's good with people, he listens and he can be decisive when required."

Some analysts were concerned that Mr Wolfson had no experience of an economic downturn, but Mr Jones said: "How many executives have? And what he lacks in experience he can gain from those around him, like Sir Brian, me and the non-executives."

The management reshuffle came as the 267-strong Next chain of shops also provided a trading update. The group said like-for-like sales, which exclude gains from new shopfloor space, were ahead 9 per cent in the first 15 weeks of the new financial year.

Mr Jones said womenswear sales has increased "in double digits", but that all departments were showing strong gains. The group plans to open 250,000 sq ft of new trading space this year and is moving into 16 former C&A stores.

As details of the chain's recent trading and new chief executive were released, the share price recoiled from 975p to 933p, as shareholders took profits. By last night's close they were down just 1.5 per cent, at 960p.

"It's nice when a plan comes together", said Mr Jones. "The share price is almost back to where it was."

David Jones took over at Next when George Davies was ousted and the company was close to bankruptcy. Now it is viewed as a class act, but Mr Jones said it was time he moved out of the top job. "Chief executives shouldn't do their job for more than 10 years, or they get sleepy, and I've been here 12 years, although I'm not sleepy yet."