About George Davies (retailer)
George William Davies (born 29 October 1941) is an English fashion designer and retailer. Davies headed Next from its creation in the 1980s, before moving on to start the fashion label 'George at Asda' in the 1990s. Leaving Asda in 2000 following their acquisition by Walmart, he launched the Per Una fashion collection at Marks & Spencer. In 2009, Davies launched his 4th brand (called GIVe) which saw 26 stores opening in selected towns and cities in the UK along with an e-commerce retailing. Dubbed as a "serial brand creator", the "King of the High Street" and "the leading fashion visionary" he was awarded the Drapers Record Life Time Achievement award in 2003 and the "Designer of the Decade" by Prima in 2004. == Early life == George William Davies was born in Crosby, Lancashire, on 29 October 1941 to sausage maker George Snr, and seamstress Mary Davies. Davies cites his mother as his motivation to succeed in life in fashion: You don't realise as a boy the influences you go through, but I remember in the late '40s and early '50s my mum, my auntie and cousin would sit cutting out dress patterns at home. My mum always said she wouldn't buy from the high street because it was rubbish. You obviously inherit genetic traits as well and that's probably why I ended up going into fashion His grandparents lived on a farm in Thornton, Crosby, and his parents moved closer to the coast when he was 11, when his mother took over a post office and his father became a sausage factory manager. Davies attended Bootle Grammar School, where he enjoyed sports including golf, football and tennis.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.