Family behind The White Company collect £50m as brand bounces back

Upmarket homewares and clothing retailer sees pretax profits rise 18% in post-lockdown recovery

The family behind The White Company have handed themselves at least £50m in payments as the upmarket homewares and clothing brand bounced back from the pandemic lockdowns.

The company paid a £50m dividend to an entity controlled by founder Chrissie Rucker and her husband Nicholas Wheeler, the founder of shirtmaker Charles Tyrwhitt, while the group’s highest paid director, thought to be Rucker, took a further £5m in pay, up from £675,000 a year before, as a long-term bonus plan cashed in.