Halpern, Ralph Mark (1938– )

English retailing executive. He was chief executive (1978–90) and chairman (1981–91) of the Burton Group (renamed Arcadia in 1998). Following the decline in Burton's suit market in the 1970s, Halpern moved the company into mainstream clothing by targeting chains in precisely defined markets. With a series of acquisitions, Halpern successfully pioneered a multi-brand strategy, which gave the company's clothing lines a leading position in their respective markets.

The company had bought Evans, the market leader in larger-size clothes for women, in 1971. Halpern then bought the Dorothy Perkins chain, offering more affordable fashion for a younger woman's market in 1979; and in 1984 launched a new chain, Principles for Women, followed by Principles for Men a year later. In 1985 he acquired Colliers and also Debenhams, which was then the largest store group in the UK; with a portfolio of 65 stores, the acquisition introduced a wide range of goods other than clothing, and later exclusive ranges of own-brand merchandise. Following the introduction of an unprofitable discount pricing strategy into the stores and the unsuccessful diversification into property development, together with the publication of details of his private life in the UK tabloid press, Halpern resigned in 1990.

Halpern was educated at St Christopher's School in Letchworth and started his career working as a trainee at the Selfridges store in London. In 1961 he moved to the Burton Group, joining its Peter Robinson subsidiary, which specialized in fashionable women's clothing. There he was involved in the launch of the popular Top Shop chain in the mid-1960s, subsequently becoming chief executive of Burton Retail and chairman of Peter Robinson and Top Shop in 1977, and then group chief executive in 1978.

Knighted in 1986, Halpern has been a local councillor in Surrey and chair of the East Surrey Police and Community Partnerships Group. In 2005 he and his wife sold their town and country homes and all the contents to embark on a new life abroad.