Jim Armitage: Next's Simon Wolfson needs the long-term view of his forebears

Simon Wolfson’s forebears would be proud of the astonishing success of Next Directory. Isaac and Leonard’s Great Universal Stores empire did catalogue retailing on an epic scale, helping Gussies at one stage count a quarter of the British public as customers.

The formula worked as well, if not better, at Next, where — by happy coincidence — the slick warehousing and delivery system that did so well for catalogues fitted seamlessly with online too.

Next’s internet operation was, as a result, pretty much the first and best of the major players on the block, and has been far ahead of its peers online for the past decade.

Inevitably, that couldn’t last forever. The past few results presentations have shown rivals, even including the Marks & Spencer supertanker, finally starting to accelerate in Next’s wake. The result: core UK sales for full price at Next’s online and directories business grew by only 2.3% in the past year.

Part of that was because of a rare slip-up in Next’s buying — there wasn’t enough mid-season stock in the second half of the year, but the main issue is surely that this is a maturing business in a market that’s rapidly becoming as cut-throat as the High Street.