Jacqueline Shirley Gold was a British businesswoman who was the executive chair of Gold Group International best known as Ann Summers founder. She championed female entrepreneurship, leading a business run by women, for women. Gold was born to businessman David Gold. At 19 she was interning at her father's company at the Ann Summers chain stores his father acquired in 1972 when she came up with an idea that changed the company for the better. She turned the stores around by launching the Ann Sum... moreJacqueline Shirley Gold was a British businesswoman who was the executive chair of Gold Group International best known as Ann Summers founder. She championed female entrepreneurship, leading a business run by women, for women. Gold was born to businessman David Gold. At 19 she was interning at her father's company at the Ann Summers chain stores his father acquired in 1972 when she came up with an idea that changed the company for the better. She turned the stores around by launching the Ann Summers Party Plan, a home marketing plan for sex toys, with a strict "no men allowed" policy. Gold went from doing an internship to being a CEO in less than 10 years being appointed as CEO of Ann Summers in 1987, transforming it into a multi-million pound business, with more than 7,500 women party organizers, 136 high street shops in the UK, Ireland and Channel Islands. Gold was voted the second Most Powerful Woman in Retail by Retail Week, the Most Inspirational Businesswoman in the UK in a survey by Barclays Bank and handbag.com. She was named one of Britain's Most Powerful Women by many publications including Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, and Woman magazines and was Business Communicator of the Year 2004. She was also the 16th richest woman in Great Britain, worth £470 million in 2019 according to The Sunday Times Rich List.
