Jennifer d'Abo

Jennifer Mary Victoria d'Abo (nee Hammond-Maude, 14 August 1945 – 30 April 2003) was a British entrepreneur, best known for turning around the retail chain Ryman in the 1980s, and making stationery "trendy".

[1][2][3][4] According to Nicholas Faith writing in The Independent, she was "that rarest of phenomena, a serial female entrepreneur".

[1] In 1981, she bought the Ryman stationery shop chain from Ralph Halpern of Burton Group, before selling it in 1987 to Pentos for £20 million, growing the business value by nearly ten times in six years.

[1][2] The success of her later ventures was more mixed, and she even had a recipe book published, complete with several celebrities contributing, Jennifer d'Abo At Home.

[1][2] She stayed on good terms with all three of her former husbands, and once arranged a dinner with all three, which was a success; and she went on holiday with one ex- and her successor.