One of Britain's wealthiest high street fashion moguls, alongside names like Philip Green and Mike Ashley - Philip Day has had his name to some of the High Street's best known retail brands.
The Dubai-based owner of the Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group which operates names including Bonmarché, Ponden Home, Peacocks and Jaeger hit a rough year with Covid-19 restrictions alongside the slow decline of the High Street taking its toll.
In November, the brands went into administration amid a downturn in trading conditions.
, though its stores will not re-open.
. in which 246 stores will be saved by a number of investors Purepay Retail, which is controlled by Mr Day.
The businessman who famously skipped college joined Edinburgh Woolen Mill in 2001. A year later he bought the company outright when it was barely turning a profit.
Day turned it around, acquired other struggling retailers including Austin Reed and Jane Norman to expand his portfolio.
In 2012 he bought Peacocks, one of the º£½ÇÊÓÆµ's largest fashion retailers, which is still trading in administration.
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According to , Day officially lives in Switzerland and reportedly bought his first helicopter from Sports Direct tycoon Mike Ashley.
Brought up on a council estate in Lancashire, Day once observed that on leaving school (having reportedly turned down a place at university) he saw three career options, says The Sunday Times: “the mines, the army, or industry”. He chose the latter and is was reportedly worth $1.2billion .