Mary Portas (born 28 May 1960 in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire), is an English retail adviser, journalist and television presenter.
Portas was brought up in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, in a family of five children, and her early ambition was to be an actress. Educated at St Joan of Arc Convent, Hertfordshire, she looked after her youngest brother following the death of her mother when she was 16. Her father, who died jtwo years later, was sales ...
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Mary Portas (born 28 May 1960 in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire), is an English retail adviser, journalist and television presenter.
Portas was brought up in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, in a family of five children, and her early ambition was to be an actress. Educated at St Joan of Arc Convent, Hertfordshire, she looked after her youngest brother following the death of her mother when she was 16. Her father, who died jtwo years later, was sales director of Brooke Bond, the tea manufacturer.
Portas studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where she was in the year below Ralph Fiennes. She said: "It was hideous. I left RADA after six months. I couldn't deal with it. Financially, emotionally, I was at a loss." This was due in part to the death of her father. Instead, she attended Watford School of Art and studied graphics and visual display, where she hated the course.
After college, she had a part-time, and later a full-time, job with Harrods where she was responsible for window...
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