Editing Next plc (section)

===Wages controversy===
In May 2014, the [[Living Wage Foundation]] bought Next shares and attended the annual general meeting in an attempt to persuade the company to pay at least £7.65 and become one of the UK's 700 living wage employers. Next was targeted because it claimed to be a good employer and was thriving. Professor Sir [[George Bain (academic)|George Bain]], who set the minimum wage in 1999, said employers could afford to pay much more but acknowledged enforcement could cause unemployment in the retail sector.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-27431336 |title=Living Wage Foundation buys Next shares and protests at meeting |publisher=BBC News |date=15 May 2014 |access-date=10 March 2015}}</ref>

In October 2014, the company was one of several retailers criticised by journalist [[Janice Turner]] in ''[[The Times]]'' for failing to pay what she described as a living wage. Turner further argued UK taxpayers pay £28&nbsp;billion to low-paid workers through [[tax credits]], and retail companies – which have the highest proportion of low paid workers – are exploiting austerity and effectively adding staff wages to the UK welfare bill. When asked to explain the salaries of lower-wage workers despite large profits, a Next spokesperson replied that the company had thirty applicants for every job advertised.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/companies/article/dont-make-me-pay-your-staff-sainsburys-p78p3fcl07n |title=Don't make me pay your staff, Sainsbury's |author=Janice Turner |work=The Times |date=4 October 2014 |access-date=19 October 2014}}</ref>
[[File:Pro-Palestine Demonstration in Exeter Feb 10 2024 Boycott Next.jpg|thumb|right|[[Gaza war protests|Pro-Palestinian protest]] outside Next on 10 February 2024]]