In 1994, with £6,000 in savings, Chrissie Rucker ended her career as a beauty journalist to launch The White Company from her boyfriend’s spare bedroom after struggling to find good quality white linen and tableware. Combe Bank School, Sevenoaks educated Rucker is married to the founder of the Charles Tyrwhitt shirt company, Nick Wheeler, is a mother of four and owns homes in Buckinghamshire and Klosters, Switzerland. The Sunday Times lists the collective wealth of Rucker and Wheeler as circa £330 million and in January 2015 this hardworking businesswoman told The Telegraph: “[My guilty pleasure is a long hot bath] with a big glass of wine, followed by a snuggle in bed with a good magazine”.
Subscribe to our free once daily email newsletter here:[contact-form-7 id=”225″ title=”Contact form 1″]
Two stories to keep beside you
Ryan Serhant
Born in Texas and educated at Hamilton College, New York, Ryan Serhant began his career as an actor on the long running series As the World Turns.
Karen Blackett OBE
The chief executive officer of Mediacom stated: “I still think it is odd that I’m the only senior black woman in the advertising industry” in November 2014.
Readers have their say
8 comments
Superb business people both of them and down to earth people too.However, I do find this fad for married women retaining their own name rather weird, one can see the point if the lady in question is a singer or performer or some kind of public figure in her own right before the marriage but in this case what’s wrong with Mrs Wheeler? OK I am just putting my tin hat and flak jacket on now in anticipation for the in-coming bombardment.
To use your maiden name or switch? Tough call… I mean, you’re named after a man one way or another, whether it’s your Dad or your husband. And if you’re a public figure because you’re an actress you may be known by something completely different; Judy Garland apparently sounded better than Frances Ethel Gumm, and Diana Dors was an improvement on Diana Fluck. Whatever women want to call themselves is fine by me.
Agreed Charles
A great couple and Nick’s sister, Susie, is another dynamo
Well one can certainly sympathise with Diana Dors, taking into consideration her particular acting genre, Fluck would have been most embarrassing.
To Charles Cust: Hope this apocryphal story isn’t deleted by Mr Steeples. Apparently Diana Dors very early in her career opened some sort of church sale, and the parson had no idea, really, who she was. He had notes about her including her real name but did his introduction from memory. He knew she had a very unfortunate name and absolutely couldn’t get it wrong, “And so, ladies, gentlemen and parishioners, let me introduce a rising young actress, Diana Clunt.”
I do soooo hope that story is true, and apologies to any of Matthew Steeple’s readers who are of a non-vulgar disposition.
Thank you for sharing this.
Margaret, that is a great story, really funny!
. I spent a lot time with a (by then slightly podgy but) charming Diana Dors. This was in the company of the ingenious rogue, the totally louche “Dandy Kim” Caborn-Waterfield. It was I the days of 2count your fingers after you’d shaken his hand”. Chelsea was much more fun in those days!