{{Short description|British businessman (1938–2022)}} {{Use British English|date=August 2022}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = [[Knight Bachelor|Sir]] | name = Ralph Halpern | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_name = Ralph Mark Halpern | birth_date = {{Birth date|1938|10|24|df=y}} | birth_place = [[London]], England | death_date = {{Death date and age|2022|08|10|1938|10|24|df=y}} | death_place = | education = | occupation = | title = {{Plainlist| * CEO of [[Burton Group]] * Founder of [[Topshop]] }} | term = 1978–1991 | predecessor = | successor = [[John Hoerner]] | known for = | boards = | networth = | spouse = {{Plainlist| * {{Marriage|Joan Donkin|1967|1999|end=divorced}} * {{Marriage|Laura Blume|2003|2007|end=divorced}} }} | parents = | children = 2, including [[Jenny Halpern Prince]] | relations = | website = }}
'''Sir Ralph Mark Halpern''' (24 October 1938 – 10 August 2022) was a British businessman, who was the founder of [[Topshop]] and chief executive officer (CEO) of the [[Burton Group]] from 1979 to 1991.
==Early life== Ralph Halpern was born in October 1938<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/officers/oqJl1giD3TFlEr62w7sKGN58lgI/appointments |title=Ralph HALPERN – Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House) |website=Beta.companieshouse.gov.uk |access-date=5 May 2016}}</ref> in London, after his [[Jewish]] parents fled from the [[Nazis]] in the 1930s and emigrated to England, losing their fortune.<ref name="telegraph1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/advice/propertymarket/3334640/Top-shoppers-hideaway.html |title=Top shopper's hideaway |work=The Telegraph |date=4 September 2004 |access-date=5 May 2016}}</ref><ref name="independent1">{{Cite news|author=Nigel Cope |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/debenhams-to-be-spun-off-as-burton-regroups-1249780.html |title=Debenhams to be spun off as Burton regroups |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |access-date=5 May 2016}}</ref>
==Career== Halpern joined [[Burton Group]] as a management trainee in 1961, and was directly involved in the establishment of [[Top Shop]] (above a Peter Robinson branch) in 1964.<ref name="telegraph1"/> On the back of its success he progressed through the managerial ranks becoming chief executive in 1978. He turned it into a retail empire that dominated the British high street, with 2,800 stores and employing more than 60,000 people. With brands including Topshop, Dorothy Perkins, Debenhams, Principles, Racing Green and Evans, it was worth £1.8bn when Halpern was ousted by the board in 1991.<ref>{{Cite news|author=Charlotte Hardie |url=http://www.retail-week.com/topics/people/the-burton-group-family-tree/5030992.fullarticle |title=The Burton Group family tree | Analysis |newspaper=[[Retail Week]] |date=11 November 2011 |access-date=5 May 2016}}</ref>
==Personal life and death== Halpern was [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] for "services to the retail industry" in the [[1986 Birthday Honours]].<ref>United Kingdom list: {{London Gazette |date=13 June 1986 |supp=y |issue=50551 |pages=2 }}</ref> He married Joan Donkin in 1967.<ref name="Guardian obit">{{cite news |title=Sir Ralph Halpern obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/aug/14/sir-ralph-halpern-obituary |access-date=14 August 2022 |work=The Guardian |date=14 August 2022}}</ref> They had a daughter, [[Jenny Halpern Prince]], and divorced in 1999.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/companies/article/everything-must-go-at-halpern-sale-ns6vww7dsw0|title=Everything must go at Halpern sale|last1=Hosking|first1=by Patrick}}</ref> In 1987, he was linked by the British tabloids to a liaison with the page 3 model Fiona Wright, leading to a "five times a night" headline.<ref name="independent1"/>
In 2000, Halpern became a father again, aged 61, when his second wife and former secretary, Laura Blume, gave birth to a son.<ref>{{Cite news|author=Dennis Barker |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2000/oct/17/features11.g21 |title=Sir Ralph Halpern a father at 61years of age |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=5 May 2016}}</ref> He and Laura were subsequently divorced in [[Miami]] in 2007.{{Citation needed |date=August 2023 |reason=The source 'https://www.pressreader.com/' has no relevance to this part of the article}}
Halpern died on 10 August 2022, at the age of 83.<ref>[https://www.ft.com/content/4f4d0330-e85c-438a-aa0f-1542dfd08ae2 Ralph Halpern, high street retailer, dies at 83] ''Financial Times''</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Sir Ralph Halpern obituary |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/article/sir-ralph-halpern-obituary-wbjhhkb5d |access-date=11 August 2022 |work=[[The Times]]}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Halpern, Ralph}} [[Category:1938 births]] [[Category:2022 deaths]] [[Category:Austrian emigrants to the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Austrian Jews]] [[Category:British Jews]] [[Category:British chief executives]] [[Category:British people of Austrian-Jewish descent]] [[Category:Businesspeople from London]] [[Category:Knights Bachelor]]