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,[4] 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.[5] Following the disposal of its US-based businesses,he sold the UK plc business of Majestic Wine for £15 million in 1989.[6]
In 1990,Clarke founded Pet City,where,as CEO,he built it into a chain of 94 stores. After floating the business in 1995,he sold it for £150 million in 1996 to US-based PetSmart.[7] In 1998,Clarke founded Safestore,building it into the UK's third largest self storage company before selling it to Bridgepoint Capital for £44million in August 2003.[8] In 1999,Clarke became CEO of Stepstone,[9] an online career portal.
Clarke is chairman and controlling shareholder,via his company Westleigh Investments,[10] of:
ATL Telecom –Cardiff-based data transmission design equipment company,which manufactures in China[11][12]
Fosters Event Catering –a West Country-based caterer[13]
A keen club cricketer,Clarke was chairman of Somerset County Cricket Club,becoming instrumental in developing the club both on and off the field by consulting ex-cricketers including Sir Ian (now Lord) Botham.[2] Consequently he was appointed a non-executive director of the England and Wales Cricket Board,and as Chairman of ECB Marketing led the negotiations for the ECB's financially advantageous four-year TV and radio broadcasting rights deal signed with BSkyB,Five and the BBC in December 2004.[25] On 25 September 2007 Clarke was elected Chairman of the ECB,[26] re-elected in 2009,and again in March 2012 for a further three years.[27] In April 2015 Clarke was nominated as the inaugural President of the ECB,with the primary role of representing the ECB on the International Cricket Council's executive board.[28]
As chief executive of the ECB,Clarke attracted some controversy surrounding the Stanford Super Series,which was bankrolled by the now-convicted American financier Sir Allen Stanford,who offered a US$20million winner-takes-all match against the Stanford Superstars,a team comprising players from the West Indies. Although England had a warm-up game against the West Indies as part of the Super Series,members of the England team,captained by Kevin Pietersen,felt that they were underprepared prior to the match:England lost by 10 wickets.
Although featured in archive interviews and footage as part of a three-part Sky Documentary series entitled The Man Who Bought Cricket,Clarke declined to participate personally.[31]
In 1983,Clarke married Judy Gould;the couple have a son Jack –after whom the brasserie in Bristol is named. Protective of his family private life,when his name appeared in the Sunday Times Rich List in the mid-1990s,Clarke took steps to shield his financial interests from public view.[32]
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CBE