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PAUL SMITH - A fashion designer, his introduction into fashion was completely accidental. Aged eighteen years and without qualifications or career intentions, his father took him in hand and marched him off to the local clothing warehouse where he was employed as a gofer. It was here that his interest in clothing and fashion developed. By the time he was twenty he was managing the first boutique in his native Nottingham.
In 1970 he opened his own shop with a few hundred pounds savings and only opened on the busy days of Friday and Saturday. This rest of the week free to work at other things and earn enough money to build up the business. By 1974 the shop, originally a small an alley, had extended onto the main street. It was now a full-time venture. Today Paul Smith has eight shops in London, one in Manchester, one in New York, one in Paris, five in Hong Kong, two in Singapore, four in Taiwan, one in Manila, the original shop in Nottingham and over two hundred shops in Japan. Paul Smith Limited remains self-financed. The annual worldwide turnover of the wholesale, retail and licensed business is £171 million.