Next to me - David Jones

Having succeeded George Davies at NEXT plc in a blaze of publicity, he turned it around from nearly going broke to becoming the most talked about and successful retailers of the last 20 years -an astounding turn around which saw the NEXT stockmarket valuation increase from GBP25m to GBP4bn during his leadership.

But it has not been without cost - he has battled through hardship, overcoming profound hearing loss and here he talks for the first time about his secret battle with Parkinson's Disease - diagnosed when he was only in his 30's it is a secret he kept even from his wife and family for many years.

His guts and glory story takes in his rise to fame from the early days at WH Smiths (from delivery boy to being offered the Chairmanship!) to Kay's catalogue department - his careers advisor told him "they'll hire anybody!" - through to GUS, Grattan and onto NEXT.

David Jones has a wide experience of all areas of the adult magazine market - most notably when he was the editor of MEN ONLY. It is from this experience that he has collated this anthology.

David is an exceptional manager, open-minded, a good listener and a great motivator of people.
Lord Wolfson of Sunningdale, ex Chairman of NEXT

David was plainly a great and inspirational CEO who created a phenomenal growth story.
The Sunday Telegraph

He's a terrific man. He delivers. It's a fantastic track record, he's one of the greats of retail.
Stuart Rose, Chief Executive Marks and Spencers

He's a great guy. He's the unsung hero of clothing - a quiet, very honest, genuine man.
From the Foreword by Philip Green, Chairman of BHS