Ann Summers is a successful British chain of High street sex shops. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Whyteleafe is a town in South East England, in the Surrey district of Tandridge and adjacent to Caterham. ... This article is about the English county. ... David Gold is an English businessman. ... Jacqueline Gold (born July 1959), is a British business woman, currently Chief Executive of the Gold Group International companies Ann Summers and Knickerbox. ... Drawing of a self-service store. ... A baby wearing many items of winter clothing: headband, cap, fur-lined coat, shawl and sweater. ... A sex toy is a term for any object or device that is primarily used in facilitating human sexual pleasure. ... For the tax agency in Ireland of the same name, see Revenue Commissioners. ... A website (alternatively, Web site or web site) is a collection of Web pages, images, videos or other digital assets that is hosted on one or several Web server(s), usually accessible via the Internet, cell phone or a LAN. A Web page is a document, typically written in HTML... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Main Street. ... Front window of a Tokyo sex shop advertising adult toys A sex shop is a shop that sells products such as sex toys, pornography, erotic lingerie, erotic books, and safer sex products such as condoms and dental dams. ...

As an unlicensed sex shop under British law, it means only a small proportion of the available product lines can be sex toys and the range of pornography sold is strictly limited in both volume and content.

History

Previous strong growth has been replaced by falling sales and profits have halved from £2.8m in 2005/6 to £1.53m pretax for the period 2006/7^[1][2]. Previously profits had doubled to £9.5m in 2001/2^[3], £8.9m in 2002/3^[4][5] ,falling to £3.2m in 2003/4^[6] - following investment in a new building and technology, dropping further to £2.2M in 2004/5^[7].
Ann Summers lingerie factory in Portsmouth closed in 2005, with over 50 redundancies^[8].Other parts of Gold Group International(GGI), the parent company have been sold, such as Gold Air, which is now owned by Air Partner ^[9], along with a large number of Birmingham City F.C. shares^[10] (which followed Birmingham's return from relegation^[11] and lower than expected profits^[12]) and a management buyout of a leading publishing business^[13][14]. GGI was part owner of the Sunday Sport^[15] prior to it's sale.
Birmingham City Football Club are an English professional football club based in the city of Birmingham. ... The Sunday Sport is a British newspaper which established itself in 1986 as a tabloid. ...

The company was named after the female secretary (Annice Summers) of the male founder (Caborn Waterfield)^[16] and has always targeted female consumers. Passion8, Stringfellows, Playboy, Beate Uhse AG and more traditional retailers (Superdrug, Boots^[17]) / internet sellers (Amazon.com^[18]) are some of Ann Summers competitors. Passion8 is a growing UK Mail order company, based in Beverley, East Yorkshire. ... Peter James Stringfellow (born October 17, 1940 in Sheffield, South Yorkshire) is a multi-millionaire businessman. ... For other uses, see Playboy (disambiguation). ... Beate Uhse AG is a German industry group with focus on selling adult entertainment in the form of sex toys, lingerie, clothing and pornography. ... Superdrug on Oxford Street Superdrug is the UKs second largest health and beauty retail chain (behind Boots) and the sixth largest overall (behind Boots, Tesco, Sainsburys, ASDA and Morrisons). ... Amazon. ...

Having worked at Royal Doulton, Jacqueline Gold decided she did not want to go into management, and asked her father David Gold to gain extra work experience. After acquiring the four stores of the "Ann Summers" chain in 1972 with his brother Ralph Gold, they gave Jacqueline at the age of 19 summer work experience in May 1979 - Jacqueline was paid £45 a week, less than the tea lady^[19]. The Royal Doulton Company is a quintessentially English name in tableware and collectables with a pedigree dating back to 1815. ... Jacqueline Gold (born July 1959), is a British business woman, currently Chief Executive of the Gold Group International companies Ann Summers and Knickerbox. ... David Gold is an English businessman. ... Year 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ...

As her parents had separated when she was 12, Jacqueline was not close to her father. Gold also didn't like the atmosphere at "Ann Summers", which was Gold Group's "up market" clean sex shop. Jacqueline 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 visit to a Tupperware-style fashion 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 immensely 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^[5]. The party plan is a method of marketing products by hosting a social event, using the event to display and demonstrate the product or products to those gathered, and then to take orders for the products before the gathering ends. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... This article is about the structure. ... AUGUST 25 1981 US Marine Sean Vance is Born on the 25th of August {ear nav|1981}} Year 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Gregorian calendar). ... Assorted lingerie styles. ... A sex toy is a term for any object or device that is primarily used in facilitating human sexual pleasure. ... Image of a woman on the Pioneer plaque sent to outer space. ...

Jacqueline was made a director of the company in 1987, Managing Director in 1993 and later Chief Executive. Jacqueline transformed the chain into a multi-million pound business, with a sales force today of over 7,500 women as party organisers; 139^[20] high street stores in the UK, Ireland, Channel Islands and Valencia,Spain; with an annual turnover of £110 million in 2006/7^[1]. In 1999 the chain opened its website, and in 2000 it acquired the five stores of the Knickerbox brand ^[21] and its range of premium site lingerie kiosks - "Knickerbox" concessions are now in every Ann Summers store. Year 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar). ... Managing director is the term used for the chief executive of many limited companies in the United Kingdom, Commonwealth and some other English speaking countries. ... Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ... This article is about the British dependencies. ... Valencia is the name of several places: In Spain: Valencia, Spain, capital of the Valencia Autonomous Community Valencia (autonomous community) Valencia (province), in the Valencia Autonomous Community The Kingdom of Valencia, which existed from 1237 to 1707 Valencia de Alcántara, a town in the province of Cáceres In... Events of 2008: (EMILY) Me Lesley and MIley are going to China! This article is about the year. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ...

Although the chain still has a number of licenced sex shops in Bristol and London selling a wide range of adult DVDs, Jacqueline has described the latest award-winning new store concept as: "Wonderful! Every time I walk in, it feels as if I‘m entering an intimate, sexy and very girly boudoir. I just love it."^[22] This article is about the English city. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

The company's headoffice was raided as part of an immigration check in 2004, consequently 15 staff were arrested and 10 were subsequently deported^[23]. The company employs a series of celebrity models to show off its lingerie, who presently include Kate Lawler, Nancy Sorrell and Emma B. Kate Louise Lawler (born May 6, 1980 in Beckenham, London) is a British celebrity. ... Nancy Sorrell is a model, best known for being the wife of comedian Vic Reeves. ... Emma Blockstage, informally known as Emma B is an English model and TV presenter. ...

Controversy

Due to the adult nature of the stores, Ann Summers has faced a lot of opposition, both legal and social. For example, when attempting to open a new store in Tunbridge Wells^[24], they were accused of degrading marriage^[25]. In 2003, they won a legal battle to advertise for employees in job centres^[26] and an ASA complaint was rejected ^[27]. , Royal Tunbridge Wells (often called simply Tunbridge Wells) is a Wealden town in west Kent in England, just north of the border with East Sussex. ... Matrimony redirects here. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Logo of Jobcentre Plus Jobcentre Plus (Welsh: Canolfan Byd Gwaith), sometimes written JobCentre Plus or abbreviated to JCP, is the government-funded employment agency facility and the social security office in the United Kingdom, often operated from a high street shop. ...

Additionally, Ann Summers in Perth was forced to close after the local people complained about the store (mostly from parents embarrassed by questions raised by their children) which also led to other problems with the store.^[28] Perth was originally the only UK city where an Ann Summers store failed to take off^[29]. However, in May 2007 the Middleton Grange, Teesside store which opened in November 2005 was closed after less than two years of trading due to poor sales^[30].

In 2002, the company was hit with a number of problems including the theft of some of its internal IT systems^[31] and a recall of its best selling vibrator^[32]. The company received a letter of complaint from Buckingham Palace, due to a non endorsed advert featuring the queen^[33]. Buckingham Palace and the Victoria Memorial. ...

In 2003, the company's payments to party organisers were investigated and discussed by a number of media sources^[34].

In 2004, two complaints were upheld by the ASA^[35]. The ASA decided that the first ad was degrading to women, offensive and unsuitable for use as a poster. In the second case the ASA ruled that the use of a nursery rhyme was likely to attract the attention of children and that the advertisement was unsuitable for the medium in which it appeared.

In 2006 Muslim groups complained about the release of a blow up doll named Mustafa Shag, claiming that the doll was offensive to Muslims as Mustafa was one of the names given to the Prophet Mohamed. ^[36]

In 2007, the company faced legal issues with Apple Inc due to its release of an electronic add-on to music players called the iGasm. The company has not backed down despite cease and desist orders by Apple. [1]. Also, a former director, who is now a Beate Uhse AG employee ^[37] is pursuing a libel claim against Jacqueline Gold^[38]. A recent advert was banned from the tube^[39] Apple Inc. ... Beate Uhse AG is a German industry group with focus on selling adult entertainment in the form of sex toys, lingerie, clothing and pornography. ...

Many complaints have been raised about Ann Summers partys with complainers stating that these partys help turn young women and girls into slags and increase laddete culture.

Trivia

The Ann Summers store in Liverpool city centre is the former home of Beatles manager Brian Epstein's record store NEMS. For other uses, see Liverpool (disambiguation). ... The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 as part of their first tour of the United States, promoting their first hit single there, I Want To Hold Your Hand. ... Brian Samuel Epstein (IPA: ) (born in Liverpool, England; 19 September 1934 – 27 August 1967) was the manager of The Beatles. ...

Notes

1. Note that the jacquelinegold.com website says that she became director in 1987 and Chief Executive only in 1993, whereas Ann Summers corporate literature says she was heading the company as soon as 1987.
2. Again the jacquelinegold.com and company websites are contradictory - the former saying that a web presence was established in 1999, the latter in 1997.

References

External links

• Ann Summers website
• Ann Summers Uncut website
• Knickerbox website
• Jacqueline Gold website
• Gold Group International website
• David Gold website