Jacqueline Gold
Encyclopedia
Jacqueline Gold is a British
business woman, and is currently Chief Executive of the Gold Group International companies Ann Summers
and Knickerbox
. She is the 16th richest woman in Britain.
, Kent. In August 2007 she was the main participant of the second episode of the BBC Radio 4
series, The House I Grew Up In
, in which she described an unhappy childhood. Her parents separated when she was twelve years old.
, but decided she did not want to go into management, and asked her father to gain extra work experience. Having acquired the four stores of the "Ann Summers" chain in 1972, her father gave Jacqueline, at the age of nineteen, summer work experience in May 1979 - Jacqueline was paid £45 a week, less than the tea lady.
Jacqueline also didn't like the atmosphere at "Ann Summers", which was David Gold's "up market" clean sex shop. Gold says of her introduction: "It wasn't a very nice atmosphere to work in. It was all men, it was the sex industry as we all perceive it to be." But a chance invitation and visit to a Tupperware
party in an east London
flat
in 1981 changed everything - Jacqueline saw the potential of selling sexy lingerie
and sex toys to women in the privacy of their own homes. Jacqueline launched the Ann Summers Party Plan - a home marketing plan for sex toys, with a strict "no men allowed" policy. These parties were and remain popular, providing women with an excuse to meet for a party and talk about sex, and have entered British popular culture. They also provided the company with a way of circumventing the law which limited their presentation space for sex toys.
Jacqueline Gold was made Chief Executive of Ann Summers
in 1987, and transformed it into a multi million pound business, with a sales force today of over 7,500 women as party organisers; 136 high street stores in the UK, Ireland
, Channel Islands
; with an annual turnover of £117 million in 2008 with large falls in sales and profits in recent years. The reported sales for the period 2006/7 were £110 million, which have fallen to 2002/3 levels levels. The takeover of Knickerbox in 2000 added another five stores, with Knickerbox concessions in every Ann Summers store.
Her autobiography Good Vibrations was published in 1995 (Pavilion Books), with a second book A Woman's Courage published in April 2007 (Ebury), which led to Jaqueline being sued by a former employee for libel. A Woman's Courage was withdrawn from sale in November 2008 having been republished by Ebury on 7 February 2008 with three pages removed and re-titled 'Please Make it Stop'. The High Court libel action was settled in August 2009 when the former employee was paid costs and substantial damages. She is a columnist for Retail Week, New Business, Kent Business, and Women Mean Business.
, the Most Inspirational Businesswoman in the UK in a survey by Barclays Bank and handbag.com, one of Britain's Most Powerful Women by many publications including Cosmopolitan
, Good Housekeeping
and Woman
magazines, one of Britain's 100 Most Influential Women by the Daily Mail
, Business Communicator of the Year 2004, and was made a new entry in Debrett's
People of Today 2005 for her contribution to British society.
Jacqueline has been the subject of several documentaries including Back to the Floor
(which was filmed at a former business prior to its closure), Ann Summers Uncovered, So What Do You Do All Day, Break with the Boss
, and co-presented the daytime business series Mind Your Own Business
on BBC One
. She has also appeared on the ITV1
show Fortune - Million Pound Giveaway
and in 2007, she was one of 12 well known individuals to serve as a jury in a fictional rape case in the BBC TV project The Verdict
, the show received a number of mixed reviews
in order to raise money for charity. Sport Relief Does The Apprentice is part of the BBC's annual charity initiative and aired on March 12 and March 14, 2008.
The other celebrities on 'The Girls' team were Clare Balding
, Louise Redknapp
, Kirstie Allsopp
and Lisa Snowdon
. The Girls won the contest raising over £400,000 from ticket sales and sales on the night of the big event at their shop based in the West End
of London
.
In May 2007, Jacqueline and her sister Vanessa took part in the justgiving.com charity moonwalk in Hyde Park, London
against her stepfather, claiming he abused her at the family home from when she was twelve to fifteen years old. After an early failed marriage to an Ann Summers
dancer, her partner was money market dealer, Dan Cunningham, still in his twenties. The couple split on New Years Day 2006, after three failed IVF attempts. They subsequently reunited and became engaged, and had twins, a boy and a girl, in May 2009. Their son, Alfie, who was born with alobar holoprosencephaly
, died January 17, 2010. In December 2010 a nanny
working for Gold was charged with trying to poison her with screenwash. 33-year-old Allison Cox who had been caring for Gold's daughter, Scarlett, was charged with three counts of administering poison with intent to annoy. In March 2011 Cox was jailed for twelve months after admitting administering poison with intent to annoy. Guildford
Crown Court heard Cox was trying to get the chef who prepared the soup into trouble by lacing two bowls of asparagus
soup with screenwash on 5 October 2010.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
business woman, and is currently Chief Executive of the Gold Group International companies Ann Summers
Ann Summers
Ann Summers is a United Kingdom-based retailer specialising in sex toys and lingerie, with over 140 high street stores in the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands and Spain. In 2000, Ann Summers acquired the Knickerbox brand, a label with an emphasis on more comfortable and feminine underwear, while...
and Knickerbox
Ann Summers
Ann Summers is a United Kingdom-based retailer specialising in sex toys and lingerie, with over 140 high street stores in the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands and Spain. In 2000, Ann Summers acquired the Knickerbox brand, a label with an emphasis on more comfortable and feminine underwear, while...
. She is the 16th richest woman in Britain.
Early life
Gold was born on 16 July 1960, the daughter of Beryl Hunt and businessman David Gold. Her father ran a publishing business which was responsible for bringing sex magazines to the high street. David wept when Jacqueline was born to his first wife, because he wanted a son. She grew up in a large house on three levels with a large garden and a swimming pool in Biggin HillBiggin Hill
Biggin Hill is an area and electoral ward in the outskirts of the London Borough of Bromley in southeast London, United Kingdom.-History:Historically the settlement was known as Aperfield and formed part of the parish of Cudham...
, Kent. In August 2007 she was the main participant of the second episode of the BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
series, The House I Grew Up In
The House I Grew Up In
The House I Grew Up In is a BBC radio series. The first episode of the first series was broadcast on 6 August 2007 on BBC Radio 4. With the presenter Wendy Robbins, each week an influential Briton explains some of their thoughts and memories as he or she goes back to the locality and the house in...
, in which she described an unhappy childhood. Her parents separated when she was twelve years old.
Business career
After school Jacqueline began working at Royal DoultonRoyal Doulton
The Royal Doulton Company is an English company producing tableware and collectables, dating to 1815. Operating originally in London, its reputation grew in The Potteries, where it was a latecomer compared to Spode, Wedgwood and Minton...
, but decided she did not want to go into management, and asked her father to gain extra work experience. Having acquired the four stores of the "Ann Summers" chain in 1972, her father gave Jacqueline, at the age of nineteen, summer work experience in May 1979 - Jacqueline was paid £45 a week, less than the tea lady.
Jacqueline also didn't like the atmosphere at "Ann Summers", which was David Gold's "up market" clean sex shop. Gold says of her introduction: "It wasn't a very nice atmosphere to work in. It was all men, it was the sex industry as we all perceive it to be." But a chance invitation and visit to a Tupperware
Tupperware
Tupperware is the name of a home products line that includes preparation, storage, containment, and serving products for the kitchen and home, which were first introduced to the public in 1946....
party in an east London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
flat
Apartment
An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...
in 1981 changed everything - Jacqueline saw the potential of selling sexy lingerie
Lingerie
Lingerie are fashionable and possibly alluring undergarments.Lingerie usually incorporates one or more flexible, stretchy materials like Lycra, nylon , polyester, satin, lace, silk and sheer fabric which are not typically used in more functional, basic cotton undergarments.The term in the French...
and sex toys to women in the privacy of their own homes. Jacqueline launched the Ann Summers Party Plan - a home marketing plan for sex toys, with a strict "no men allowed" policy. These parties were and remain popular, providing women with an excuse to meet for a party and talk about sex, and have entered British popular culture. They also provided the company with a way of circumventing the law which limited their presentation space for sex toys.
Jacqueline Gold was made Chief Executive of Ann Summers
Ann Summers
Ann Summers is a United Kingdom-based retailer specialising in sex toys and lingerie, with over 140 high street stores in the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands and Spain. In 2000, Ann Summers acquired the Knickerbox brand, a label with an emphasis on more comfortable and feminine underwear, while...
in 1987, and transformed it into a multi million pound business, with a sales force today of over 7,500 women as party organisers; 136 high street stores in the UK, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, Channel Islands
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
; with an annual turnover of £117 million in 2008 with large falls in sales and profits in recent years. The reported sales for the period 2006/7 were £110 million, which have fallen to 2002/3 levels levels. The takeover of Knickerbox in 2000 added another five stores, with Knickerbox concessions in every Ann Summers store.
Her autobiography Good Vibrations was published in 1995 (Pavilion Books), with a second book A Woman's Courage published in April 2007 (Ebury), which led to Jaqueline being sued by a former employee for libel. A Woman's Courage was withdrawn from sale in November 2008 having been republished by Ebury on 7 February 2008 with three pages removed and re-titled 'Please Make it Stop'. The High Court libel action was settled in August 2009 when the former employee was paid costs and substantial damages. She is a columnist for Retail Week, New Business, Kent Business, and Women Mean Business.
Recognition
In 2007 Jacqueline was voted the second Most Powerful Woman in Retail by Retail WeekRetail Week
Retail Week is a UK-based news magazine covering the retail industry.Founded in 1988 by financial journalist Patience Wheatcroft and her husband Tony Salter, it is now owned by the business magazine publisher EMAP.The magazine is published every Friday...
, the Most Inspirational Businesswoman in the UK in a survey by Barclays Bank and handbag.com, one of Britain's Most Powerful Women by many publications including Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan (magazine)
Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...
, Good Housekeeping
Good Housekeeping
Good Housekeeping is a women's magazine owned by the Hearst Corporation, featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, health as well as literary articles. It is well known for the "Good Housekeeping Seal," popularly known as the...
and Woman
Woman (UK magazine)
Woman is a mainstream weekly title for 30- and 40-something women. Edited by Karen Livermore, it encompasses a mix of celebrity gossip and TV news, real-life stories, and body-confident fashion and beauty tips...
magazines, one of Britain's 100 Most Influential Women by the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
, Business Communicator of the Year 2004, and was made a new entry in Debrett's
Debrett's
Debrett’s is a specialist publisher, founded in 1769 with the publication of the first edition of The New Peerage. The name "Debrett's" honours John Debrett...
People of Today 2005 for her contribution to British society.
Jacqueline has been the subject of several documentaries including Back to the Floor
Back to the Floor (UK TV series)
Back to the Floor is a Reality-TV documentary series broadcast on BBC2 in the late 1990s and early 2000s in which CEOs or Top level managers Go undercover in their operations and take a junior/entry level job in their company. This give the bosses a lot think about during this exercise...
(which was filmed at a former business prior to its closure), Ann Summers Uncovered, So What Do You Do All Day, Break with the Boss
Break with the Boss
Break with the Boss is a British television programme that aired in the UK on Living TV from November 1, 2006. An eight part series which sees different bosses each week take three of their employees away on holiday, during which they will have to complete challenges. This show is hosted by Liz...
, and co-presented the daytime business series Mind Your Own Business
Mind your own business
"Mind your own business" is a common English saying which asks for a respect of other people's privacy. It can mean that a person should stop meddling in what does not concern that person, attend personal affairs of others instead of your own, etc.-Origin:...
on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
. She has also appeared on the ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
show Fortune - Million Pound Giveaway
Fortune: Million Pound Giveaway
Fortune: Million Pound Giveaway was a British television show hosted by Richard Madeley which first aired on ITV on Tuesday 2 January 2007. Over seven weeks, various members of the public appeared, several per show, and appealed before a panel of judges for money to fulfil ambitions or dreams...
and in 2007, she was one of 12 well known individuals to serve as a jury in a fictional rape case in the BBC TV project The Verdict
The Verdict (BBC)
The Verdict was a controversial 2007 BBC television programme produced by RDF Media in which twelve celebrities formed the jury in the trial of a fictional rape case. The programme was filmed with real legal and medical professionals, but with actors playing the victim, defendants, and witnesses...
, the show received a number of mixed reviews
Charitable activity
Jacqueline participated in a celebrity edition of The ApprenticeSport Relief Does The Apprentice
Sport Relief Does The Apprentice was a celebrity version of the British reality television series The Apprentice, produced in 2008 to raise money for Sport Relief. Five male celebrities and five female celebrities took part in the show to complete a business-themed task...
in order to raise money for charity. Sport Relief Does The Apprentice is part of the BBC's annual charity initiative and aired on March 12 and March 14, 2008.
The other celebrities on 'The Girls' team were Clare Balding
Clare Balding
Clare Balding is a BBC sports presenter, journalist and jockey.-Early life:In 1989 and 1990, Balding was a leading amateur flat jockey and Champion Lady Rider in 1990....
, Louise Redknapp
Louise Redknapp
Louise Elizabeth Redknapp is an English singer and media personality. She was a member of the girl group Eternal from 1992 to 1995, before becoming a solo singer . She has presented several television shows and served as a judge on the UK version of So You Think You Can Dance...
, Kirstie Allsopp
Kirstie Allsopp
Kirstie Mary Allsopp is a British TV presenter known for the Channel 4 property programmes: Location, Location, Location; Relocation, Relocation; Location Revisited; The Property Chain; Kirstie's Homemade Home and Kirstie's Handmade Britain...
and Lisa Snowdon
Lisa Snowdon
Lisa Snowdon is an English fashion model, television personality and presenter. She was the host of the reality television show Britain's Next Top Model from 2006 until 2009...
. The Girls won the contest raising over £400,000 from ticket sales and sales on the night of the big event at their shop based in the West End
West End of London
The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
In May 2007, Jacqueline and her sister Vanessa took part in the justgiving.com charity moonwalk in Hyde Park, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
Personal life
Gold has levelled charges of sexual abuseSexual abuse
Sexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is the forcing of undesired sexual behavior by one person upon another. When that force is immediate, of short duration, or infrequent, it is called sexual assault. The offender is referred to as a sexual abuser or molester...
against her stepfather, claiming he abused her at the family home from when she was twelve to fifteen years old. After an early failed marriage to an Ann Summers
Ann Summers
Ann Summers is a United Kingdom-based retailer specialising in sex toys and lingerie, with over 140 high street stores in the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands and Spain. In 2000, Ann Summers acquired the Knickerbox brand, a label with an emphasis on more comfortable and feminine underwear, while...
dancer, her partner was money market dealer, Dan Cunningham, still in his twenties. The couple split on New Years Day 2006, after three failed IVF attempts. They subsequently reunited and became engaged, and had twins, a boy and a girl, in May 2009. Their son, Alfie, who was born with alobar holoprosencephaly
Holoprosencephaly
Holoprosencephaly is a cephalic disorder in which the prosencephalon fails to develop into two hemispheres. Normally, the forebrain is formed and the face begins to develop in the fifth and sixth weeks of human pregnancy...
, died January 17, 2010. In December 2010 a nanny
Nanny
A nanny, childminder or child care provider, is an individual who provides care for one or more children in a family as a service...
working for Gold was charged with trying to poison her with screenwash. 33-year-old Allison Cox who had been caring for Gold's daughter, Scarlett, was charged with three counts of administering poison with intent to annoy. In March 2011 Cox was jailed for twelve months after admitting administering poison with intent to annoy. Guildford
Guildford
Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...
Crown Court heard Cox was trying to get the chef who prepared the soup into trouble by lacing two bowls of asparagus
Asparagus
Asparagus officinalis is a spring vegetable, a flowering perennialplant species in the genus Asparagus. It was once classified in the lily family, like its Allium cousins, onions and garlic, but the Liliaceae have been split and the onion-like plants are now in the family Amaryllidaceae and...
soup with screenwash on 5 October 2010.