How White Stuff doubled its profits in a year

Online sales rose by 47.9pc in the year, to £24.1m, and represented 20.8pc of total sales, up from 16.4pc a year earlier.

At the same time, the company continued to invest in its physical footprint in the UK, opening five stores in the year.

White Stuff, whose clothing products were originally heavily skewed to ski fashion wear but have since branched out into the mainstream, opened its first store in Manchester last week, and now has 90 shops around the UK. Mr Seigal is also continuing a three-pronged attack on international sales, through a small number of actual stores in northern Europe, wholesaling and franchises in a German department store chain.

Following a restructuring three years ago, Mr Treves and Mr Thomas control 75pc of the equity, with the retailer’s management owning the remaining 25pc.

Mr Seigal said there were no plans for a change in the ownership structure, despite the stellar results.

The business began as the two founders sold “Boys from the White Stuff” sweatshirts in Val d’Isère in 1985. They went on to sell outdoor menswear items such as fleeces, but it has since grown to sell clothes for men and women, as well as homeware items.

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