Next plc

Next plc, styled NEXT, is a British multinational retailer of clothing, footwear and home products headquartered in Enderby, England, tracing its roots to Joseph Hepworth's 1864 tailoring business in Leeds. The modern Next brand emerged in 1982 when designer George Davies transformed the Kendall's chain into the first Next stores, combining menswear and womenswear in a mini department-store format. Next operates about 700 stores, roughly 500 in the United Kingdom and 200 across Europe, Asia and the Middle East, plus its Next Directory catalogue and e-commerce division, and became the largest clothing retailer by sales in the United Kingdom after overtaking Marks and Spencer in 2012. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange as part of the FTSE 100.