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Company meetings archive

Annual General Meeting 2007

The AGM was held on Wednesday 16 May 2007. The Notice of Meeting is contained in the Annual Report and Accounts January 2007.

Annual General Meeting 2007 results

At the AGM of Next shareholders held on 16 May 2007, all resolutions as set out in the Notice of Meeting contained in the Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 27 January 2007 were passed. Ordinary business resolutions were carried on a show of hands and special business resolutions were decided by poll votes.

The total number of shares in issue at the date of the AGM is 227,003,930.

For ordinary business resolutions decided on a show of hands, the following proxy votes were received prior to the meeting:

        For       Against       Total proxy
votes cast		   Proxy votes
withheld1
Resolution   Special /
Ordinary		   No. of
votes		   %   No. of
votes		   %   No. of votes   No. of
votes
1. To adopt the accounts and reports of the directors and auditors   Ordinary   141,727,674   98.67   1,915,436   1.33   143,643,110   587,403
2. To approve the remuneration report   Ordinary   135,594,563   96.42   5,033,521   3.58   140,628,084   3,602,429
3. To declare a final ordinary dividend of 33.5p per share   Ordinary   144,029,441   99.86   197,737   0.14   144,227,178   3,335
4. To re-elect David Keens as a director   Ordinary   143,652,021   99.60   570,783   0.40   144,222,804   7,709
5. To re-elect Nick Brookes as a director   Ordinary   143,726,001   99.66   493,015   0.34   144,219,016   11,497
6. To re-elect Derek Netherton as a director   Ordinary   140,369,514   98.77   1,754,010   1.23   142,123,524   2,106,989
7. To re-appoint Ernst & Young LLP as auditors and authorise the directors to set their remuneration   Ordinary   143,280,365   99.35   943,136   0.65   144,223,501   7,012

For special business resolutions decided by poll votes the results are detailed below:

      For       Against       Total votes cast   Votes withheld
Resolution Special /
Ordinary		   No. of
votes		   %   No. of votes   %   No. of
votes		   No. of
votes
8. To approve the Next Risk/Reward Investment Plan Ordinary   135,366,866   95.54   6,314,030   4.46   141,680,896   2,561,861
9. Authority to allot shares Ordinary   142,117,510   98.54   2,099,626   1.46   144,217,136   25,621
10. Authority to disapply pre-emption rights Special   143,038,021   99.19   1,169,686   0.81   144,207,707   35,050
11. Authority for on-market purchase of own shares Special   140,122,782   98.28   2,447,432   1.72   142,570,214   1,672,543
122. Authority to enter into Programme Agreements with each of Goldman Sachs International, UBS AG, Deutsche Bank AG and Barclays Bank plc Special   129,877,393   90.80   13,163,096   9.20   143,040,489   1,202,268
Less votes disregarded under the provisions of Section 164(5) of the Companies Act 1985   (10,000,000)2   -   (10,000,000)2   -
Resolution 12 total   119,877,393   90.11   13,163,096   9.89   133,040,489   1,202,268
13. Deletion of Article 101 which requires directors to retire when they reach 70 Special   142,151,196   99.00   1,441,197   1.00   143,592,393   650,364
14. Changes to the Articles to facilitate communications with shareholders using electronic means Special   142,296,710   99.12   1,265,869   0.88   143,562,579   680,178
15. Authority to communicate with shareholders using electronic means Ordinary   142,573,992   98.94   1,529,103   1.06   144,103,095   139,662

Note1: The ‘Vote Withheld’ option is provided to enable the shareholder to abstain on any resolution. It is not a vote in law and is not counted in the calculation of the proportion of votes for and against a resolution.

Note2: The total maximum number of Ordinary Shares which may be purchased by Next for cancellation pursuant to such contingent purchase contracts is 10 million. As explained in the Notice of Meeting, Next has disregarded 10 million votes from both the total number of votes cast in favour of the resolution and the total votes cast so that the voting of those shares did not affect the result of the poll.