Outrageous British retail tycoon Sir Ralph Halpern of Topshop dies aged 83
LONDON – British high street tycoon Sir Ralph Halpern, who helped transform the country's retail sector in the booming 1980s and 90s, died on August 10 at the age of 83 years.
He was instrumental in the creation of Topshop in the mid-1960s and was CEO of the Burton Group from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, which owned Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and the greats Debenhams and Harvey stores. Nichols.
Halpern was born in Austria to Jewish parents who fled the Nazi regime in the 1930s to emigrate to England penniless. His mother, Olga Halpern, was a fashion designer in Vienna and his father Bernard, a merchant and banker.
The family lived in North London, moving from Belsize Park to Hempstead. Halpern attended St. Christopher's private school in Hertfordshire, which has an all-vegetarian diet for students and staff with funding from the Theosophical Society. Notable alumni of the school also include restaurant critic A. A. Gill, Rolling Stones manager Prince Rupert Loewenstein, and professional golfer Neil Coles.
Associated GalleriesHalpern began her fashion career in her father's textile business, then joined the department store Selfridges as an intern for £5 a week.
He left the company to join Peter Robinson, a department store chain owned by the Burton group which ceased to exist in the late 70s. Halpern rose through the ranks after running a Burton branch in the north from England, then returned to London as a merchandise manager at Peter Robinson, where he met Joan Donkin.
Jenny Halpern and her father Sir Ralph Halpern attend an event at Winfield House in London on September 13, 1989. Tim Jenkins/WWDThe couple married in 1967 and divorced in 1999. They have one daughter, Jenny Halpern Prince, founder and CEO of public relations agency Halpern.
“Our father left an irreplaceable mark on the UK business spirit and retail landscape. And he did it in his very special way,” Prince said in a statement, adding that he was the inspiration to me growing up and his mantra of JFDI (just f-king do it) has been instilled in our culture at Halpern at all times. He was my hero and he will live on through me and my family forever. »
As CEO, Halpern made the Burton Group the dominant force on the British high street. The group rode the wave of the British economic boom resulting from stock market deregulation and recorded growing profits and sales quarter after quarter. The sleek and dapper Halpern led Burton with a firm fist, easily fending off criticism at press conferences with the occasional cocky smirk as his admiring management team sat front row to rejoice in their success. p>
In the mid-1980s, he brought in business tycoon Gerald Ronson, one of the "Guinness Four" in the Guinness stock fraud scandal, ...
LONDON – British high street tycoon Sir Ralph Halpern, who helped transform the country's retail sector in the booming 1980s and 90s, died on August 10 at the age of 83 years.
He was instrumental in the creation of Topshop in the mid-1960s and was CEO of the Burton Group from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, which owned Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and the greats Debenhams and Harvey stores. Nichols.
Halpern was born in Austria to Jewish parents who fled the Nazi regime in the 1930s to emigrate to England penniless. His mother, Olga Halpern, was a fashion designer in Vienna and his father Bernard, a merchant and banker.
The family lived in North London, moving from Belsize Park to Hempstead. Halpern attended St. Christopher's private school in Hertfordshire, which has an all-vegetarian diet for students and staff with funding from the Theosophical Society. Notable alumni of the school also include restaurant critic A. A. Gill, Rolling Stones manager Prince Rupert Loewenstein, and professional golfer Neil Coles.
Associated GalleriesHalpern began her fashion career in her father's textile business, then joined the department store Selfridges as an intern for £5 a week.
He left the company to join Peter Robinson, a department store chain owned by the Burton group which ceased to exist in the late 70s. Halpern rose through the ranks after running a Burton branch in the north from England, then returned to London as a merchandise manager at Peter Robinson, where he met Joan Donkin.
Jenny Halpern and her father Sir Ralph Halpern attend an event at Winfield House in London on September 13, 1989. Tim Jenkins/WWDThe couple married in 1967 and divorced in 1999. They have one daughter, Jenny Halpern Prince, founder and CEO of public relations agency Halpern.
“Our father left an irreplaceable mark on the UK business spirit and retail landscape. And he did it in his very special way,” Prince said in a statement, adding that he was the inspiration to me growing up and his mantra of JFDI (just f-king do it) has been instilled in our culture at Halpern at all times. He was my hero and he will live on through me and my family forever. »
As CEO, Halpern made the Burton Group the dominant force on the British high street. The group rode the wave of the British economic boom resulting from stock market deregulation and recorded growing profits and sales quarter after quarter. The sleek and dapper Halpern led Burton with a firm fist, easily fending off criticism at press conferences with the occasional cocky smirk as his admiring management team sat front row to rejoice in their success. p>
In the mid-1980s, he brought in business tycoon Gerald Ronson, one of the "Guinness Four" in the Guinness stock fraud scandal, ...
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