Mary Margaret Portas is an English retail consultant and broadcaster, known for her retail- and business-related television shows, founding her creative agency Portas and her appointment by David Cameron, the British Prime Minister, to lead a review into the future of Britain's high streets.
25 Facts About Mary Portas
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Mary Portas's Fermanagh-born Catholic mother, died of encephalitis when Portas was aged 16, her father soon remarried but died of a heart attack two years later forcing Portas, aged 18, to turn down a place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in order to look after her younger brother on her own.
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Mary Portas started her career in retail with a Saturday job in John Lewis.
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Mary Portas then had a part-time, and later a full-time, job with Harrods where she was responsible for window displays for about three years, before joining Topshop as display manager.
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Mary Portas is credited with turning Harvey Nichols into a leading modern fashion brand.
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Mary Portas then persuaded the store's owners to use younger designers, and gained publicity in the BBC's Absolutely Fabulous series in the 1990s, after promising writer and star of the show Jennifer Saunders the run of the store for research in return for Saunders namechecking the business.
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In 1997 Mary Portas left Harvey Nichols to launch an agency, Yellowdoor, producing campaigns for clients including Clarks, Louis Vuitton, Oasis Stores, Swarovski, Dunhill, Boden, Thomas Pink, Patek Philippe and Mercedes-Benz, Sainsbury's, Habitat, Westfield, Liberty and The Body Shop.
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Today, Mary Portas Agency advises retail clients from every continent, and the businesses success is built on an obsessive understanding of human and cultural behaviour.
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Mary Portas is claimed to be one of the UK's foremost authorities on retail and brand communication.
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Notably, Mary Portas spoke alongside Neil Armstrong at the Cannes Palais Festivals in October 2007, and spoke at the Yorkshire International Business Convention with the Dalai Lama in June 2012.
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In 1997, Mary Portas left Harvey Nichols to launch her consultancy business, Yellowdoor.
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Mary Portas was named as the charity's Global Retail Ambassador.
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Mary Portas started writing the column in 2005 and it was her critiquing of shops that was the inspiration for the BBC documentary and accompanying book.
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Between 2008 and 2010, Mary Portas wrote a weekly column for consumer fashion magazine Grazia, offering career advice and mentoring.
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Mary Portas' programmes are shown in over 20 international territories, including on Australia's Lifestyle Channel.
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Portas presented an episode of The Money Programme called Mary Portas: Save Our Shops in 2009.
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In March 2011, Mary Portas regularly appeared in the Channel 4 series Lily Allen: From Riches to Rags, in which she advised the pop star on her venture into fashion retail.
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Mary Portas was married to chemical engineer and Unilever executive Graham Mary Portas for 14 years; they had two children.
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Mary Portas later lived with Melanie Rickey in Primrose Hill with her children and their son after a divorce from her husband.
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On 29 March 2014, Mary Portas attended the "I Do To Equal Marriage" event, which celebrated the introduction of same-sex marriage in England and Wales.
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Mary Portas started a new relationship in 2022 and prefers to keep the details private.
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Mary Portas spends her money on art, wine, theatre and chocolate, and enjoys gardening.
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Mary Portas was named as one of the top 100 Tweeters in the UK by The Independent in 2011.
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Mary Portas was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to business, broadcasting and charity.
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Mary Portas published her report "The Portas Review" on 13 December 2011.