YOU might be forgiven for expecting the New York-born owner of fashion chain Flannels to be a bit of a prima donna.

After 30 years in the industry, Neil Prosser's high street baby continues to grow, employing 350 people and turning over é22m, and yet ownership remains solely in his hands.

Contrary to stereotypes, though, Neil is a quiet and understated gentleman who candidly admits that he fell into fashion because it was the only business he knew. His father worked in textiles, a job that took him around the globe and resulted in Neil's place of birth, and he started doing weekend work at the family business in his early teens.

He moved to London at 16 to work in fashion and was eventually dragged back to the region to take over the family business when his father was out of action through ill health. The event proved formative for Neil and his future direction. "Some people work very well for other people or for large organisations but I never really thought I wanted to work for anybody else. When you come from an environment where you're used to owner-drivers, you aspire to owning your own business and you become unemployable, in a funny sort of way.

"I was about to set up in London, ironically, but my father gave me that phone call and the fact that I was back in Manchester meant I started looking for shops up here. Maybe if my father hadn't called me, we'd have started in London and be working north now."

Flannels' story, then, starts in 1976 when Neil opened his first shop in Knutsford. It was a small store - one he recalls as being a similar size to his current office - that Neil admits stocked whatever he could get his hands on. "I ran that business for five years but I'd always aspired to running a business rather than a single shop and I wanted to do more."

His aspirations resulted in a second shop in Goose Green, Altrincham, in 1980 and Flannels moved into Manchester city centre in 1987, opening a store just off St Ann's Square that soon became the model outlet for the rest of the chain. It nurtured Flannels' current concept of offering several designer labels under one roof, and Giorgio Armani, Paul Smith and Stone Island filled the rails. "The stores were going well, we had increased our profile and we had more and more designer brands. We were very much pioneers of the brands because not a lot of retailers were selling them. It was a good time and the market was buoyant.

"The business got bigger and I got involved in the buying and eventually came out of the shops to do the strategic planning. We looked at other cities around the country and found that they weren't doing what we were doing, so we decided to expand."

Flannels took its concept across the Pennines to Leeds before opening a much bigger store in Nottingham. "At the time, there were no department stores, so we were effectively the department stores and we soon moved into Birmingham and Cardiff."

The inevitable growth of department stores and designer fashion retailers have certainly presented Flannels with some disconcerting moments over the years, but Neil is philosophical about it.

Change

"We've had tough years and we've had to reinvent ourselves. But that allows us to become very focused on what we are about and how best to change.

"Retail has always been quite cyclical; you have good times and bad times and it's all about damage limitation. Slow-down is a major factor of retail, but it may be that you have reduced revenue and higher profits, or you may be able to find opportunities while trade is slow by securing better deals on premises or stock.

"When things are cyclical, you re-focus on the things you really believe in and as a managing director you really come into your own and go right back to your core values."

After something of a transitional period, then, Flannels is focusing on developing its own brand. Neil is confident that the move will take his firm to the next level in the competitive clothing market, but there is one move he will not consider to further the progress of the group - flotation.

"It's is not on our radar. I don't think flotation works because people float to get out and get their money out." Remaining private also allows Flannels to progress at its own pace - although Neil says that he is certainly keen to expand the business, he is not forced to keep shareholders happy with projections for physical and financial growth.

So, if he doesn't sell the company, perhaps he will bring his two sons into the business? No, says Neil emphatically - instead, he has built a strong team to take over the reins when he steps down.

But retirement is a long way off and Neil is concentrating on current growth. Flannels has just opened its latest store in Liverpool and is eyeing up opportunities in the south. Neil, though, has no intention of moving from the north west.

"Manchester happens to be, strategically, a very good spot. We're bang in the centre of the country, which is the right thing for the business and from a distribution point of view."