Ann Summers founder Jacqueline Gold has died at the age of 62, her family said.
The businesswoman died on Thursday evening after seven years of treatment for breast cancer.
A statement from Jacqueline Gold’s family said: “It is with unspeakable sadness that Ann Summers confirm our amazing executive chair Jacqueline Gold CBE passed away yesterday evening with her husband Dan, daughter Scarlett, sister Vanessa, and brother-in-law Nick, by her side.
“Jacqueline is best-known for founding Ann Summers and leading a business run by women, for women. She was also an activist for women in business, and championed female entrepreneurs with the ambition to better the working environment for women.
“From an internship to Chief Executive Officer in less than 10 years, her determination and commitment to creating a unique retail offering led to the creation of a multi-channel retail chain, consisting of retail stores, direct sales ambassadors, and a fast growing online and third-party business. It is her vision and creativity that saw Ann Summers grow from an unknown brand to a British household name and stable of the British high street.
“In recognition of Jacqueline’s significant achievements during her 40-year career, she was awarded a CBE in the 2016 New Year Honours for services to entrepreneurship, women in business and social enterprise.”
The family statement continued: “Jacqueline’s death comes just two months after the passing of her father, David Gold, the Joint-Chairman of West Ham United FC. The thoughts and sincere condolences of everyone at Ann Summers are with Jacqueline’s husband Dan, daughter Scarlett, and sister Vanessa at this extremely sad time.”
Ann Summers CEO and Jacqueline’s sister, Vanessa, said: “Jacqueline courageously battled stage 4 breast cancer for seven years and was an absolute warrior throughout her cancer journey. In life she was a trailblazer, a visionary, and the most incredible woman, all of which makes this news that much harder to bear.
“As a family, we are utterly heartbroken at the loss of our wife, mum, sister, and best friend”.
She was made an CBE in the 2016 New Year Honours for services to entrepreneurship, women in business and social enterprise.
In 2018, tThe chief executive of the lingerie and sex shop chain talked of her suffering abuse as a child, and of the fears holding women back from speaking out.
Gold said that girls should be brought up with the same aspirations as boys to ensure they both have an equal chance of entering the boardroom.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, the businesswoman welcomed the steps forward taken by the Me Too movement, and said of her own abuse “I try not to think about it too much”.
She added on the broader movement of speaking out: “This has drawn a light on people’s difficulties, it’s important that that happens.
“I think the Me Too movement will go on and on and on. It’s understandable that some women didn’t speak out at the time. First of all there’s that huge fear that nobody’s going to believe you, then there’s that fear: did I contribute to this in some way? No you didn’t.
“But I think it’s sometimes in our nature to look inward and take blame, and I think that’s the way we were brought up.
“I feel very strongly about the way children are brought up. We need to empower women from the time they’re little girls.
“This is about treating boys and girls exactly the same, not just giving all the chores to the little girls. No wonder when the boys do well and reach the boardroom they expect the women to pour the tea.”
Gold said that she was inspired to launch a new direction for her father’s chain of stores after encountering women who wished to have the same access to sex toys and underwear as men.
She said it was a revelation when she met a woman who told her “we want to spice up our sex lives, but we don’t want our husbands doing it for us”.
The chief executive said that getting the stores to be accepted by the public was fraught with difficulties, and that she received a bullet in the post while trying to establish a shop in Dublin.
She said of a pair of planning officials: “They were immediately on the phone trying to persuade me to open my store on a side street.
“They sort of played a good cop bad cop scenario. One of them said to me, ‘if you do open that store, we cannot be held responsible for might happen to you’.
“I wasn’t going to have anyone, in any shape or form, tell me that I couldn’t open to store.”
