Clothing/Food
2018: No.29 - £175m
2017: No.26 - £170m

Mountain Warehouse founder Mark Neale and his wife Michelle own the upmarket cafe and deli brand Fig & Favour in Hagley, and they have a country house nearby.

The deli opened in and soon built up a loyal following with its trendy American pancakes and New York sandwiches, not to mention its Eggs Benedict, described by a Birmingham Post reviewer "golden sunshine on a plate".

The food business was a bit of a departure for Mark Neale , 50, who began his retail career selling roller-blades, greetings cards and toys before moving onto outdoor clothing.

Using £40,000 of his savings, the Oxford-educated Mark Neale opened his first Mountain Warehouse store in Swindon in 1997, selling largely stock clearance items. He built the business up over 10 years, with private equity backing. Narrowly avoiding an acquisition by Mike Ashley's Sports Direct chain, he took advantage of low property prices in the 2008 property crash to open more branches, and is now one of the largest retailers of outdoor clothing in the UK. Business is booming, with sales closing in on the £200 million mark. When Prince George was photographed in a Mountain Warehouse ski suit in the French Alps, sales soared by 40 per cent.

Mountain Warehouse now has more than 200 branches and has expanded internationally with stores in North America and Poland. It specialises in selling its own exclusive products. Mark Neale, who was born in Ebbw Vale into a steel-working family, owns 85 per cent of the business. He has branched out into a new range of exclusively-designed sportswear with his London-based Zakti Active brand.

His wife, Solihull-raised Michelle Feeney, is a former chief executive of the self-tanning brand St. Tropez, established in the UK by Nottingham entrepreneur Judy Naake. She was also CEO of beauty brand Cussons. She now works for private equity firm Palatine as an advisory board member. They have a house in St Johns Wood.