Please Let It Stop by Jacqueline Gold Read Free Book Online

their enthusiasm and was especially interested in the concept of party plan, so I asked if I could come to one of their parties. It was 1981 and it was to prove more than just an evening’s entertainment.
    There we were, a group of women gathered together in a small flat in Thamesmead, drinking wine and chatting. Once the Ann Summers items came out things really livened up. Sexy lingerie was passed around along with stories of sex lives and relationships. There were loads of laughs and the most amazing atmosphere created by women who were enjoying letting their hair down. I was introduced as the daughter of the man who owned Ann Summers, which led to the women not just asking loads of questions but also giving their suggestions. Fundamentally, they wanted to buy sexy underwear but they didn’t feel comfortable going into sex shops to do it. They felt – quite rightly – that the whole business of sexual pleasure at that time was not female friendly, a view that was eventually to underpin my business strategy.
    Party plan, originally thought up in the 1950s by Tupperware in the States, could be used to sell all sorts of things. There were few overheads and you had direct access to cash customers. Right there I made my mind up: I was going to hold my own parties. I went back to Tony buzzing with excitement and he had to listen to me talking non-stop about it. I don’t think I had any idea of what it could become; I just knew party plan was potentially a very exciting move for Ann Summers. However, I realised that I had to do my homework so I decided I wouldn’t tell anybody – other than Tony – until I’d done my research.
    We didn’t sell lingerie but started with ordinary, casual clothes which we bought in the East End’s markets. Tony and I would haggle with the wholesalers in an attempt to get them to give us only a few of each item, instead of the usual hundred. We bought jumpers, skirts, dresses and jackets – in all I think we invested about £100. I started with parties at our house and then I persuaded others to let me hold parties at their homes. Given that I was still quite shy, it was a big deal for me to stand up in front of people and sell to them. But once I was up there in full flow, I loved it, and the more I did it, the more I became enthused about what I was doing. Tony and I now had a weekly routine which involved buying the clothes in London on Sunday and selling them through the week. I got a really good feel for the concept and then moved on to selling sexy underwear and a few toys. It was hugely popular and transformed the atmosphere at the parties.
    However, I had more pressing things to attend to. Marlene was complaining about how snowed under she was with the extra administration from the Pippa Dee ladies. It was time to make my move and pitch my big idea to my father.

CHAPTER THREE
Yes, women do like sex
    I have always felt that my father is a very eloquent spokesman on the subject of the sex industry, which is useful considering the number of times the media have given the business a hammering over the years. He once told a newspaper:
    You won’t find any hard porn in our shops. There are no back rooms. Everything is on view at the front of the shop. We draw the line at pornography. The difficulty is that the line keeps moving and a publication which is acceptable today might not be acceptable tomorrow. We have always presented sex in a healthy and positive light, and we feel that both men and women should be given the freedom of choice to buy products that enhance their sex lives.
    The truth was that the sex business was then biased in favour of men. There just weren’t the opportunities for women to buy products to ‘enhance’ their lives. At the timethe concept of sexual pleasure was something that seemed to exclude any idea of women as consumers. The message seemed to be, ‘Ladies, you can be part of it but you can’t take the lead.’
    I was under no illusion that I had a job