Don Lewin

Who is Don Lewin?

Don Lewin OBE is the chairman and founder 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.

Lewin was born in Bow in the East End of London and grew up during the Blitz, the German aerial attacks on London in World War II. 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 and sold credit. At the age of 26, he got a job as a freelance salesman selling greeting cards to retailers. In 1968, he borrowed £500, opened a specialist greeting card shop in Epping, Essex, and created the company Clinton Cards, named after his son, Clinton. He opened a chain of seven shops, five of which he then sold to reinvest in larger shops in better locations. By 1988, he had created a chain of 87 shops and the following year, 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. By 2004, the company had 800 shops in the United Kingdom and Ireland, was valued at £140 million on the London Stock Exchange and had sales of £492 million. The family stake in the business, share sales and other assets were estimated to be £139 million in 2008. Lewin was made an OBE in 1996 and his autobiography, Think of a Card, was published in 2008 by Bound Biographies.