RADLEY HANDBAGS SOLD TO OWNERS OF C&A

IT STARTED out as a stall selling handbags at Camden market but yesterday luxury label Radley was sold to the billionaire owners of retail chain C&A.

Famous for its WestHighland terrier motif, the firm was sold by private equity firm Exponent for an undisclosed sum. Radley’s Australian-born founder Lowell Harder is in line for another windfall from selling more of what remains of her stake.

Once described as a bags-to-riches queen, the former architect set up the business in 1984. At 33 and a mother to three young boys, she decided she needed a different direction in her life.

Her bohemian cousin had just returned from a trip to India with some leather bags and Harder was impressed by the unique designs.

She contacted the manufacturer in India and arranged to have her own bags made and imported to London.

She started trading on a Camden market stall under the name Hidesign. Today the business has 33 stores and counts Pippa Middleton as a customer.