River Island

Set to celebrate his 100th birthday in 2026, Lewis remains a director of the high street fashion chain River Island. Retail was in the blood. His parents ran a greengrocer in North London and Lewis remembers being left in charge of the till when he was as young as nine years old. After serving in the RAF during World War Two, he started his own fruit stall in an iron and timber shack pitched on a bomb site. The idea of working for someone else had apparently “never entered his head”.

Two years later, in 1948, he teamed up with his brothers to launch Lewis Separates, the clothes business that in time would become River Island. The company today operates around 230 stores, employs around 5,500 staff and ships globally, remaining privately held by the Lewis family. Lewis’s enduring involvement and strategic vision have made him one of the most influential figures on the British high street.