The former Next chief executive David Jones has been knighted in this year's New Year's Honours List.

Widely admired in the industry, Jones transformed Next during his time in charge of the business from 1988 to 2001, introducing Next's highly successful Directory multichannel offer. He served as chairman until 2006 after handing over the reins to Simon Wolfson.

Jones, who also served as a director of Morrisons in the tumultuous period after its takeover of Safeway, is now deputy chairman of JJB Sports and chairman of Littlewoods owner Shop Direct. In recent years Jones has fought a brave battle against Parkinsons Disease.

The new year's honours list is otherwise light on retail figures, but there is an OBE for Hilary Riva, chief executive of the British Fashion Council

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