Don Lewin

Donald John Lewin OBE (born 11 June 1933) is a British businessman. He is the founder and former chairman of Clinton Cards, a chain of greeting cards shops in the United Kingdom. He and his family were estimated to be worth £139 million in 2008.

Biography

Lewin was born on 11 June 1933 in Bow, London, the son of a chimney sweep.[1][2] After leaving school at the age of 15, he worked for a building firm, did two years of National Service, sold brushes from door to door, sold credit and, when he was 26, got a job as a freelance salesman selling greeting cards to retailers.[1][3]

In 1968, he opened a specialist greeting card shop in Epping, Essex, and created the company Clinton Cards, named after his son, Clinton.[1][3] He opened a chain of seven shops, five of which he then sold to reinvest in larger shops in better locations.[1][3] By 1988, he had created a chain of 87 shops and floated the company on the stock exchange for a valuation of £20 million, retaining 50 per cent of the shares and using money raised to acquire rival greeting cards chains.[1]

By 2004, the company had 800 shops in the United Kingdom and Ireland, was valued at £180 million on the London Stock Exchange and had sales of £360 million.[4] The family stake in the business, share sales and other assets were estimated to be worth £139 million in 2008.[5] In 2012, the business had 767 shops and employed 8,000 people but went into administration later that year.[6] Lewin was made an OBE in 1996 and his autobiography, Think of a Card, was published in 2008.[7][8]

References
  1. Bridge, Rachel (2006). My Big Idea: 30 Successful Entrepreneurs Reveal How They Found Inspiration. London: Kogan Page Publishers. pp. 146–149. ISBN 978-0-7494-4626-0. OCLC 64688681. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  2. "From sweeping chimneys to £100m fortune". The Times. 10 May 2012. Archived from the original on 1 September 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  3. Parker Pat (April 2009). "Playing his cards right". Essex Life. Archant. pp. 65–67. Archived from the original on 1 September 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  4. Bridge, Rachel (24 October 2004). "How I Made It: Don Lewin, founder of Clinton Cards". The Sunday Times. News International Limited. Retrieved 7 February 2009.
  5. "Don Lewin and family". The Sunday Times. 27 April 2008. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  6. Walsh, Kate (3 June 2012). "US firm rescues Clinton Cards". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  7. "O.B.E." The London Gazette. No. 54427. 15 June 1996. p. 12. Donald John LEWIN, Chairman, Clinton Cards. For services to the Greeting Cards Industry.
  8. "Clinton cards celebrates 40 years". Essex Life. 16 December 2008. Archived from the original on 1 September 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.


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