Davies left Pippa Dee amid a boardroom struggle and broken promises from other directors. J Hepworth & Son and NEXT In 1981, the chairman of Leeds based men's retailer Hepworth's, Sir Terence Conran, approached Davies to join the retail chain and revamp the concept to better combine their new purchase, the 70 stores of Kendall & Sons Ltd. Briefed to come up with a concept that would bring profitability to Kendall's, Davies' response was a blueprint which became NEXT, now the third most successful high street chain in the UK after Marks & Spencer and BHS/Arcadia Group. The first NEXT shops opened on 12 February 1982, with the Kendall's conversion complete by the end of 1983. Based around "the total concept look," it encouraged customers to mix and match within a style, resulting in customers having both trend and buying more. The average NEXT customer would buy five items, not just the one they had entered the shop originally to buy. Made Chief Executive in 1984, Davies then converted the 50 Hepworth's stores to the NEXT format, extending the total concept look at the same time to cover menswear. In 1985, NEXT interiors was added to stores which were deemed in the "right demographic areas." In 1986, Davies moved the group's headquarters from Leeds to Leicester, to be closer to the main garment manufacturers. In 1987, the group bought the Grattan catalogue company. Extending first to introduce NEXT childrenswear, he then introduced the NEXT Directory based around four key concepts: Directory: while a traditional catalogue was printed at a price and kept out of sight, NEXT Directory was hard backed and designed to be placed on a coffee table Editorial: the directory was photographed by top fashion and media photographers including Neil Kirk and Herb Ritts, and featuring Vogue models including Yasmin le Bon, Uma Thurman and Carla Bruni. Swatch sample: while traditional catalogues showed glossy paper pictures of models in the clothes, Davies added to the concept by including sample swatches of the actual materials (3" x 3" cut out and stuck-in squares) Service: while traditional catalogues often gave a 28-day from delivery service, NEXT Directory offered 48-hour delivery, allowed for by being directly next to the suppliers At the same time, Davies launched the NEXT account card. The pressures of ever-increasing growth and expansion demanded by the analysts in the city caused NEXT to go through turbulent times