£10m dividend suits Paul Smith

FASHION boss Sir Paul Smith once turned down a £30m offer from luxury goods group LVMH to take a stake in his clothing empire, saying: 'Picking up millions of quid wouldn't really change my life.'

But that did not stop Tony Blair's favourite designer and his wife Pauline from taking almost £10m in dividends from one of his companies.

Paul Smith (Holdings), his main company that includes his British, US and Japanese operations, made pre-tax profits of £11.2m on a £76.6m turnover, up from £9.8m in the year June 2003 on a turnover of £64m.

As the highest-paid director, Smith took home £1.4m in pay and pension contributions. The dividend came from subsidiary Paul Smith Ltd. Smith and his wife own 83% of the company.

Smith, 57, left school aged 15 to become an errand boy. He opened his first store in Nottingham in 1970 and now has homes in Italy and a mansion in Holland Park, west London.