Jacqueline Gold
CEO Ann Summers and Knickerbox

Jacqueline Gold is one of Britain’s most successful businesswomen.

As Chief Executive of Ann Summers and Knickerbox, she’s become known as the “woman responsible for bringing sex to the high street”. But Jacqueline can also take responsibility for making the Ann Summers family business one of the most profitable private companies in the UK with a gross annual sales turnover at over £150 million – earning her a place in Britain’s 100 Most Influential Women. By her own admission, Jacqueline’s had no formal business training, but it’s turned out to be her strength. “It forced me to rely on feedback from my staff and customers.”And it’s this success that’s made Jacqueline an inspiration to thousands of women determined to emulate her business achievements. “The best piece of advice I could ever give is be true to yourself. As a woman you should never compromise your femininity or create an aggressive stereotype in order to emulate your male counterparts – it’s not necessary.”

Jacqueline’s inspiring business journey began at the age of 21. While working at her father’s business she saw the potential in taking lingerie and sex toys to women in their homes and creating the Ann Summers’ Party. Learning the hard way, Jacqueline worked her way through the ranks before being made Chief Executive in 1987 and creating an empire run by women, for women.

Ann Summers now boasts a sales force of more than 7,500 women as party organisers, and now has more than 130 high street stores in the UK, Ireland, and the Channel Islands and one in Spain. 2008 will see the opening of a further five branches of Ann Summers across the UK. When Jacqueline bought Knickerbox in February 2000 it had losses of £5m, it is now one of the highstreets most successful brands. The takeover of Knickerbox added another 26 stores to the Ann Summers’ group, plus franchises in Ireland, Iceland and Denmark. “I’m an opportunist – I do not let myself become too bogged down in business plans which can restrict you being entrepreneurial.”

Among Jacqueline’s many accolades, she’s been voted the second Most Powerful Woman in Retail by Retail Week, the Most Inspirational Businesswoman in the UK (Barclays Bank), one of Britain’s Business Icons (Nat West Bank), and one of Britain's Top Businesswomen by publications including Cosmopolitan, Esquire, Woman, and Good Housekeeping. The Daily Mail listed Jacqueline as one of Britain's 100 Most Influential Women and she was made Business Communicator of the Year 2004 by the British Association of Communicators in Business.

Jacqueline will be listed in Debrett's People of Today in 2009 for her contribution to British society, and in Who’s Who in 2008. She was also invited to Buckingham Palace by the Queen for a celebration of ‘Women in Business’

She is a columnist for Retail Week, New Business, Kent Business and Women Mean Business magazine. Jacqueline has been the subject of several documentaries including Break With The Boss (Living, 2006), So What Do You Do All Day (BBC2, 2004), Ann Summers Uncovered (ITV1, 2003) and Back To The Floor (BBC2, 2001). She was one of the panelists on the Fortune: Million Pound Giveaway (ITV1 2007), co-presented the daytime business series Mind Your Own Business (BBC1, 2005) and was one of the celebrity jurors on The Verdict (BBC2, 2007). Jacqueline helped raise more than £750,000 for Sport Relief when she appeared on the celebrity version of The Apprentice.

Her first autobiography Good Vibrations was published in 1995 (Pavilion Books), with a second Book A Woman’s Courage published in April 2007 (Ebury) which went on to be republished in mass market paperback as Please Let It Stop in February 2008. To add to Jacqueline’s awards, in May this year she was nominated for The Credit Suisse Award for the Outstanding Woman in Business in the 2008 National Business Awards. The results will be announced at an awards ceremony in November.

Jacqueline has used her position as a high-profile businesswoman to support and promote the charities closest to her heart. They include being a patron of Breast Cancer Care, NAPAC, as well as having close links with the Retail Trust.

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