Clarke began his career as an investment banker with Credit Suisse First Boston. In 1981 he bought from receivership the assets of what was to become Majestic Wine, where, as chairman, he built it into a UK national chain. From August 1987 to May 1988, Clarke was chairman of Majestic Wine Corporation Inc, a United States company which owned a chain of 104 stores trading as Liquor Barn in California and Arizona. Following disposal of the US based businesses, he sold the UK plc business of Majestic Wines for £15 million in 1989. In 1990, Clarke founded Pet City, where, as CEO, he built it into a chain of 94 stores. After making the business public in 1995, he sold the business for £150 million in 1996 to US based PetsMart. In 1998, Clarke founded Safestore, building it into the UK's third largest self storage company, selling it to Bridgepoint Capital for £44million in August 2003. In 1999 Mr Clarke became CEO of Stepstone, an online career portal. Since he came on board, the company has raised NKr1.8bn from the IPO in 2000 and grew from four countries and 200 employees to a staff of 1,385 in 18 countries. Clarke is currently Chairman and controlling shareholder, via his company Westleigh Investments, of:
ATL Telecom – Cardiff based data transmission design equipment company, which manufactures in China
Fosters Event Catering – a West Country-based independent caterer
CCI International – the UK's largest clay pigeon equipment manufacturer
West Country Business Systems – develops software systems for managing independent schools.
Boston Tea Party – a West Country-based chain of coffee shops
Clarke is the non-executive deputy chairman of Pure Wafer plc – presently the only European based silicon chip test wafer reclaim company
Clarke is also Chairman of oil and gas explorer Amerisur Resources PLC
Public service
Giles Clarke has served with the following public bodies:
In 2010/11, Clarke was elected as Master of the private club the Society of Merchant Venturers in Bristol. The society conducts charitable works, but has been accused of using its present influence to sanitise the memory of Edward Colston.
Cricket
A keen club cricketer, Clarke became chairman of Somerset County Cricket Club, becoming instrumental in developing the club both on and off field and consulting ex cricketers including Sir Ian Botham. He resultantly became a non-executive director of the England and Wales Cricket Board, and as Chairman of Marketing led the negotiations for their new four-year TV and radio broadcasting rights deal signed with BSkyB, Five and the BBC in December 2004. On 25 September 2007 Clarke was voted in as Chairman of the ECB, re-elected in 2009, and again in March 2012 for a further three years. In April 2015 Clarke was nominated as the ECB's first president, with the intention that president's primary role would be to represent ECB on the International Cricket Council's executive board. Clarke was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to cricket.
Private life
Married to Judy, the couple have a son Jack – after whom the brasserie in Bristol is named. A family man and protective of his private life, when his name appeared in the Sunday Times Rich List in the mid-1990s, Clarke took steps to protect his financial interests from the public.
