Ann Summers

History

The company was named after Annice Summers, the secretary of the founder, Michael Caborn-Waterfield. She was born Annice Goodwin in 1941, but later took her stepfather's surname. She left the company soon after it opened, following a row with Caborn-Waterfield. She moved to Umbria, Italy, where she died of cancer in October 2012.

In 2000, Ann Summers acquired the underwear brand Knickerbox for an undisclosed sum. However, in 2014 they announced plans to sell the brand.

Retail

The first Ann Summers shop was opened in 1970 in Marble Arch, London, from which it grew to six shops.

Ann Summers was purchased in 1971 by brothers Ralph and David Gold, who turned it from a standard sex shop into an established high street brand and lingerie boutique. In 1981, David Gold installed his daughter Jacqueline Gold (who was the Executive Chair of Ann Summers) and she introduced the Party Plan concept. The retail operations for all of Ann Summers' shops are managed from their Head Office in Whyteleafe, Surrey and, as of December 2010, Ann Summers operated 144 retail outlets across the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands and Spain.

The shops offer lingerie, underwear, cosmetics, swimwear and sex toys. The stores sell two million Rampant Rabbits, a kind of vibrator developed by Jacqueline Gold, per year.

Ann Summers parties

Jacqueline Gold initiated the Party Plan concept in 1981. The Ann Summers parties were conceived as a means of circumventing regulations restricting the display of sex toys as well as a marketing tactic. Their popularity quickly grew and Ann Summers once had over 7,500 Party Organisers working for Party Plan, coordinated from the Head Office in Surrey. There were around 4,000 Ann Summers parties every week in the UK in 2003.

The Ann Summers parties included the presentation of sex toys and lingerie in the informal setting of someone's home, usually the home of one of the attendees. It also involved the perusal of a catalogue, and often there were party games.

The Party Plan concept ended in October 2025.

Controversy

Due to the adult nature of the business, Ann Summers has frequently faced opposition, both legal and social. For example, in 2003, they won a legal battle to advertise for employees in job centres and an Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) complaint was rejected.

They have also encountered opposition to their advertising. The company received a letter of complaint from Buckingham Palace, due to a non-endorsed advertisement featuring the Queen.

In 2003, the company's payments to party organisers were discussed by a number of media sources.

In 2004, two complaints were upheld by the ASA. 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 reference to the nursery rhyme "Ride a Cock Horse" was likely to attract the attention of children and that the advertisement was unsuitable for the medium in which it appeared.

An Ann Summers lingerie factory in Portsmouth closed in 2005, with over 50 redundancies.

Additionally, Ann Summers in Perth, Scotland, 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. Perth was originally the only UK town where an Ann Summers store failed to take off. However, in May 2007 the Middleton Grange, Hartlepool store which opened in November 2005 was closed after less than two years of trading due to poor sales.

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.

In 2007, the company faced legal issues with Apple Inc due to its release of an electronic add-on to music players called the . The company has not backed down despite cease-and-desist orders by Apple. Also, a former director, who is now a Beate Uhse AG employee is pursuing a libel claim against Jacqueline Gold. An advertisement was banned from the London Underground in the same year.

In 2010, Ann Summers' Halloween advertisement was banned by the Radio Advertising Clearance Centre, which decided the advertisement used "fairly overt sexual references in terms of sound effects."

In 2011 an advertising campaign which featured a pastiche of a Marks and Spencer advertisement was withdrawn after a threat of legal action by M&S.

In 2025, after claims that Marks and Spencer banned trans women from giving or receiving bra fitting services in response to a complaint about a shop assistant in the clothing section believed to be trans asking a customer if they needed any assistance, Ann Summers said that trans women were welcome to all services offered at their stores.

References

References

1. "About us - History of Ann Summers".
2. (January 2019). "Turnover of Ann Summers worldwide from financial year 2010 to 2018".
3. "Ann Summers Store Finder".
4. (3 April 2000). "Ann Summers to buy Knickerbox". BBC News.
5. (3 April 2000). "MRS SEX; Girl behind Ann Summers legend is now rich recluse".
6. Armstrong, Ashley. (15 March 2014). "Ann Summers to sell Knickerbox". The Telegraph.
7. ZapelliA Web Solutions - www.zapellia.co.uk. (31 March 2000). "The History of Ann Summers". Ann Summers Party Plan.
8. (15 February 2022). "Ann Summers reshuffles top team". Drapers.
9. Lavinia, Emily. (8 March 2024). "10 best rabbit vibrators that will help to intensify your solo pleasure". The Independent.
10. (24 December 2010). "Jacqueline-Gold-profile-of-the-chief-executive-of-Ann-Summers". The Telegraph.
11. "DB Consulting : Ann Summers".
12. Oaff, Barbara. (3 September 2003). "Ann Summers Party Organisers". The Guardian.
13. (24 December 2010). "Ann Summers Catalogue pdf". Ann Summers.
14. "Sex toy chain overturns job adverts ban". Business.scotsman.com.
15. (9 April 2003). "'Hotbot' adult poster banned". BBC News.
16. Cozens, Claire. (26 June 2002). "Queen is not amused by Ann Summers sex ad | Media | MediaGuardian". The Guardian.
17. Barbara Oaff. (9 February 2003). "Wage slaves: Ann Summers party organisers | Money | The Guardian". The Guardian.
18. [http://www.asa.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/4DCA7C6C-61C4-4836-810D-07DFD178D6ED/0/ASA_Annual_Report_2004.pdf] {{webarchive. link. (17 March 2007)
19. "Jobs fear at saucy lingerie plant". Portsmouth.co.uk.
20. (11 August 2009). "The latest news, sport, showbiz and comment from". the Sunday Mail.
21. (11 August 2009). "The latest news, sport, showbiz and comment from". the Sunday Mail.
22. Willis, Ian. (15 May 2007). "It's the last of the Summers line". Hartlepool Mail.
23. (9 February 2006). "Emma, Ann and a sex doll that upsets Muslims". News.independent.co.uk.
24. "Apple v Ann Summers in iGasm spat". Macworld.co.uk.
25. Michael Vaughan, Beate Uhse. (30 October 2002). "Sex war threat haunts UK High Streets". BBC News.
26. link. (23 June 2015)
27. (23 August 2007). "Ann Summers Rabbit ads banned from the Tube".
28. (2010-10-22). "Ann Summers has 'offensive' Halloween advert banned | Metro News".
29. (20 April 2011). "Ann Summers pulls Squeal Deal after M&S threats".
30. Hansford, Amelia. (2025-08-21). "Ann Summers confirms trans women are welcome to use its bra fitting services".