Next ECONOMIC

Supply Chain & Sourcing Relationships

Authoritative settlement-business database screen. Next plc, Next Retail Ltd, and its named controlling principals do not appear in the OHCHR Database of Business Enterprises. The database’s 26 September 2025 update lists 158 entities - 138 Israeli, 12 European, 6 American, 1 Canadian, and 1 Chinese - following the addition of 68 companies and the removal of 7 from the 2023 edition; no UK apparel retailer appears among the listed entities ^{1, 2}. A direct text search of the OHCHR Special Rapporteur report A/HRC/59/23 (“From economy of occupation to economy of genocide,” 2 July 2025) found no mention of “Next” or “Next plc” in the extractable text; the only occurrences of the word “next” in that document are ordinary prose usages ³.

Next’s own disclosed sourcing footprint contains no Israeli manufacturing. Its Modern Slavery Transparency Statement 2025-26 (covering the year to January 2026) names its top ten sourcing countries as Bangladesh (33%, 191 factories), China (28%, 768 factories), India (12%, 241 factories), Sri Lanka (4%, 59 factories), Pakistan (4%, 45 factories), Cambodia (4%), Turkey (4%, 113 factories), Vietnam (3%, 49 factories), Myanmar (2%, 14 factories), and Great Britain (1%, 37 factories); Israel is not among them, and the statement contains no mention of Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, or the Golan Heights ⁴.

Indirect brand-licensing intersection with an Israeli-listed apparel group. Next’s supply chain intersects indirectly, through licensing architecture rather than direct procurement, with Delta Galil Industries (TASE: DELG), whose 80%-owned subsidiary Delta Israel Brands operates retail branches in the Ma’ale Adumim settlement in the occupied West Bank and in the Pisgat Ze’ev and Ramot settlement neighbourhoods of occupied East Jerusalem, and which has been documented operating a warehouse in the Barkan industrial zone, per a Who Profits profile valid to 22 October 2024 ⁵. Delta Galil separately holds a worldwide licence, announced 16 July 2018 and reported as a five-year term, to develop, produce, and distribute men’s underwear, loungewear, and thermal wear for the Ted Baker brand ⁶. Next plc, in a structurally separate and independently negotiated arrangement, took over from Debenhams as Ted Baker’s childrenswear licence partner in an agreement announced 16 August 2019, initially for five years and covering clothing, shoes, and accessories launching in spring 2020 ⁷. These are two distinct licensing relationships that happen to share the Ted Baker brand name; no primary-source evidence was found establishing that Next plc directly procures goods from, or holds a contractual relationship with, Delta Galil itself.

Third-party marketplace model. Next’s Total Platform white-label service, launched in 2020, manages front- and back-end operations - technology, warehousing, logistics, and online sales infrastructure - for partner retailers including Victoria’s Secret, Gap, Reiss, Laura Ashley, and Childsplay Clothing, alongside a Next Label marketplace hosting over 1,000 third-party brands; no Israeli brand or supplier is named among the disclosed participants ⁸.

No public evidence identified directly linking Next plc to Mehadrin, Hadiklaim, Galilee Export, or other Israeli date/citrus/avocado exporters as suppliers; these entities are documented Israeli produce exporters operating in a boycott-sensitive context ^{9, 10, 11}, but Who Profits documents Mehadrin’s disclosed supply relationship as running to Marks & Spencer, not to Next ⁹. No public evidence identified of Next operating a dedicated import entity for Israeli-origin agricultural or consumer goods, nor of seasonal Israeli-sourcing patterns, nor of Israeli-origin products reaching Next via third-party distributors or resellers.

A Who Profits company profile titled “Nextcom Group” describes an unrelated Israeli telecommunications and defense-infrastructure company headquartered in Kefar Yehoshua, Israel, majority-owned by Guy Israeli, TASE-listed, and holding contracts with Israel’s Ministry of Defense, Israel Aerospace Industries, Elbit Systems, and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, plus a 2018 Golan Heights wind-turbine project ¹². This is a homonym only - no evidence connects “Nextcom Group” to “Next plc,” the UK retailer led by Simon Wolfson; any source conflating the two is in error.

Delta Galil Industries, an Israeli apparel manufacturer, appears in the OHCHR database of business enterprises linked to Israeli settlement activity, which listed 112 entities as of 2020 and was updated to a larger list in September 2025 ^{1, 13, 14}. Delta Galil’s own disclosed customer and licensing relationships include Nike, Victoria’s Secret, Lululemon, Skims, Walmart, and licenses for adidas, Columbia, Calvin Klein, and Tommy Hilfiger ^{15, 16}; “Next” is not named among Delta Galil’s disclosed customers or licensors in the sources reviewed. Next’s only independently confirmed Delta-Galil-adjacent transaction is its October 2020 joint venture, in which Next plc acquired a 51% stake (with L Brands holding 49%) in Victoria’s Secret’s UK business out of administration ^{17, 18, 19}. Delta Galil is a known supplier to the Victoria’s Secret brand generally via its acquisitions of the Bogart Group and Inner Secrets ^{20, 21}, but no source located confirms Delta Galil manufactures for, or holds a direct commercial relationship with, the Next-operated Victoria’s Secret UK joint venture specifically. Claims that Next is a “Tier 1” purchaser from, or a financial stabilizer of, Delta Galil or Tefron could not be corroborated by Delta Galil’s own periodic report or by Next’s supplier disclosures and are treated as unverified.

Next publishes its own Tier 1/2/3 supplier factory lists at nextplc.co.uk, including a February 2026 listing ^{22, 23}, but the underlying PDF document could not be parsed with available tooling this audit cycle, leaving it unconfirmed whether the list includes any Israel-located facilities or names Tefron or Delta Galil specifically.

Product Origin, Labeling & Regulatory Compliance

No public evidence identified naming Next in connection with “Produce of Israel” mislabeling investigations covering settlement-origin agricultural goods; such investigations document a general phenomenon of Jordan Valley settlement produce reaching UK supermarkets but do not name Next, a clothing and homeware retailer with minimal fresh-food operations. No public evidence identified of DEFRA or customs enforcement actions against Next specifically regarding country-of-origin labeling, and No public evidence identified of a Next-specific corporate policy addressing sourcing or labeling of goods from occupied territories.

Investment, Capital & Financial Exposure

No public evidence identified of Next plc operating factories, data centers, logistics hubs, or real estate holdings in Israel or the occupied territories. Next’s Israel-market presence has been characterized in press reporting as online-sales-only, generating an estimated NIS 60–70 million per year, with no confirmed physical stores as of the most recent identified reporting from 2016 ^{24, 25}. No public evidence identified of Next operating R&D facilities, technology partnerships, or accelerator programmes in Israel.

Next plc has no external parent company or private-equity sponsor identified in the sources reviewed; it is an independently listed FTSE 100 company, with Simon Wolfson and associated family/trust vehicles being the most-referenced controlling-principal linkage ^{26, 27, 28}. No public evidence identified of Next plc, as a corporate entity, holding Israeli-domiciled equities, Israeli sovereign bonds, or Israel-focused fund exposure; unrelated asset managers such as Aviva Investors have been reported separately purchasing Israeli government bonds, with no connection to Next found ²⁹.

Operational Presence & Market Activity

Next has explored, but per its own 2016 public statement decided against, opening physical stores in Israel: “The company is not planning on opening stores in Israel, but we offer a broad selection of items for online purchasing” ²⁴. In that January 2016 reporting Next characterised the franchise-recruitment notice on its Israel-facing site as a generic declaration replicated across all of its international websites rather than a concrete expansion plan, and indicated that opening physical stores could lead it to raise website prices for Israeli customers or halt online sales to Israel altogether in order to protect franchise holders from online competition ²⁴. A separate report from the same period stated flatly that Next had said no to opening stores in Israel ²⁵. The same 2016 reporting is the source of the NIS 60–70 million estimate, describing Next’s Israel-facing sales as concentrated in infant and children’s clothing and ranking Next among the top five online retailers used by Israeli consumers generally and by young people and students ²⁴. A franchise-recruitment notice for Israel has appeared on Next’s Israel-facing website, though this could not be independently confirmed by direct fetch and is drawn from a search-engine index snippet only ³⁰. No public evidence identified of Next maintaining a registered Israeli employing entity, consistent with its online-only market characterization, and no workforce or tax-registration figures were identified for any Israeli operating subsidiary. No public evidence identified of Next plc’s annual report or investor materials characterizing Israel as a growth or strategic market ³¹.

Corporate Structure & Foundational Ties

No public evidence identified that Next was founded or incorporated in Israel; Next plc’s legal domicile and operational headquarters is Enderby, Leicestershire, England, and no evidence of a dual or legacy Israeli headquarters was found. No public evidence identified of Israeli state ownership stakes, government board appointees, Israeli government contracts, or critical-infrastructure designation applying to Next plc. No public evidence identified of golden shares, founder shares, or charter provisions tying Next’s governance to the Israeli state. No public evidence identified of Next plc having acquired or holding a controlling stake in any Israeli-incorporated operating company across manufacturing, consumer brands, pharma/biotech, cyber/tech, food, or infrastructure sectors. No public evidence identified of Next plc underwriting Israeli sovereign debt, selling Israel Bonds, or engaging in trade finance to OHCHR-listed entities.

On controlling principals: the Wolfson Family Charitable Trust, established in 1958, is documented as a donor to the “UK Friends of the Association for the Wellbeing of Israel Soldiers” (AWIS) and to Beit Halochem, reportedly totaling more than £600,000 since 2018, alongside other named UK Jewish family foundations ^{26, 27}. Beit Halochem is described in these sources as supporting wounded IDF veterans and terror victims ²⁷, and the Trust is also documented as a donor in Yad Vashem’s donor records ²⁸. No primary source located directly attributes the Trust’s funding decisions to Simon Wolfson personally as opposed to the broader family trust structure, and no evidence was found quantifying what share, if any, of the Trust’s capital derives from Next plc dividends versus other Wolfson family wealth.

Charity Commission primary records add detail on the two distinct Wolfson trusts. The Charles Wolfson Charitable Trust (Charity No. 238043) lists five current trustees: The Hon. Andrew Daniel Wolfson (Chair, appointed 14 October 2020), The Lord Jonathan Neil Mendelsohn (22 July 2020), Deborah Sarah Edwards (22 July 2020), The Lord Simon Adam Wolfson (CEO of Next plc), and Dr Sara Levene ³². For the year ending 5 April 2025 the Trust recorded £3,479,200 total income against £6,052,522 total expenditure, of which £5.90 million was grants to institutions; its five-year total-expenditure trend is £5.44m (2021), £6.11m (2022), £5.53m (2023), £7.11m (2024), and £6.05m (2025), and no grant-recipient breakdown is disclosed in the register extract ³³. Andrew Wolfson, Chair of that Trust and brother of Next CEO Simon Wolfson, has been a trustee of Beit Halochem UK since April 2016 and its Chairman since May 2018 ³⁴. Beit Halochem UK’s own published Supporters page lists “The Charles Wolfson Charitable Trust” and the separate “The Wolfson Family Charitable Trust” at Founder Benefactor level, and “Lord David and Lady Louise Wolfson” at Patrons level; Next plc itself does not appear on that supporters page ³⁵. The separate Wolfson Family Charitable Trust’s published grants table records £125,000 to the Jerusalem Foundation (2007) and £25,000 to Beit Halochem, Tel Aviv (2008), and for the year ending 31 March 2021 records joint grants with the Wolfson Foundation to six Israeli universities - Hebrew University of Jerusalem £550,000, Technion £460,000, Weizmann Institute £460,000, Tel Aviv University £391,000, Ben-Gurion University £325,000, and Bar-Ilan University £314,000 ²⁶.

A claim circulating in secondary and activist sources that Simon Wolfson is a trustee of “UK Friends of the Association for the Wellbeing of Israel’s Soldiers” (UK-AWIS, Charity No. 1084272) does not hold up against the Charity Commission register, which lists that charity’s four trustees as Miguel Gerado Abadi, Benny Shachor, Colonel Richard Kemp, and Joshua Swidler, with no Wolfson family member appearing ³⁶. UK-AWIS is independently notable as the UK branch of an Israeli organisation reported to be funded by Israel’s Defence Ministry and closely linked to the Israeli army; the Charity Commission opened a regulatory case in December 2023 and in July 2025 issued a formal warning to its trustees over a fundraising video, since removed, that used combat and air-strike footage in an appeal tied to the Gaza war ³⁷. No corporate or personal Next-plc-principal link to UK-AWIS was substantiated.

Boycott-tracker context. Next plc is not named on the Ethical Consumer “Palestine boycott list,” which enumerates roughly 50 companies including Barclays, Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, HP, Dell, Siemens, and RE/MAX ³⁸. Ethical Consumer’s own company profile for Next plc, last updated 7 November 2025, displays no Israel-Palestine rating in its accessible content ³⁹. A lower-provenance activist aggregator, Masjid Al-Aqsa’s “BDS List,” does list Next plc, but the retrievable rationale reduces to Wolfson family ownership and leadership (David Wolfson as former Chairman, Simon Wolfson as CEO) and the family’s charitable grant-making in Israel, with no direct corporate transaction, supply contract, or settlement-linked activity by Next plc itself cited ⁴⁰.

A search-engine-generated claim that Simon Wolfson was “a board member of the New Israel Fund” was checked against its underlying primary source - a Jewish Chronicle report on the June 2010 House of Lords Dissolution Honours - and found to misattribute an affiliation belonging to a different 2010 peerage recipient, Sir Jeremy Beecham, a Labour peer and former leader of Newcastle City Council, who appears in the same article as Wolfson but is a distinct, unrelated individual ⁴¹. No public evidence identified of Simon Wolfson holding any New Israel Fund board role. No public evidence identified of personal or family-office investments by Wolfson or other Next board members into Israeli companies.

No public evidence identified of Next operations, sales, listings, services, sourcing, or distribution occurring in or directed to West Bank (including East Jerusalem) or Golan Heights settlements, whether directly or via franchisees or licensees. Broader NGO coalition reporting on financial institutions’ links to Israeli settlement activity, such as the “Don’t Buy into Occupation” reports, documents banking and investment-sector exposure generally ^{42, 43, 44} but does not name Next plc.

Profit Repatriation & Economic Contribution

No specific Israel-market revenue disclosure was found in Next plc’s annual report or investor materials ³¹; the only Israel-specific revenue figure identified - NIS 60–70 million per year in online sales - originates from 2016 Israeli business-press reporting rather than from Next’s own disclosures ^{24, 25}. Profit-flow analysis is not assessable, as no Israeli-domiciled Next subsidiary or ownership structure was identified through which profit could flow in either direction. No public evidence identified of any Israeli governmental or industry assessment characterizing Next plc’s significance within a specific sector of the Israeli economy. Next’s published corporate-responsibility and community-giving disclosures describe general charitable activity without an Israel-specific component identified ^{45, 46}.