White Stuff chief executive Sally Bailey has won the PwC Private Business Woman of the Year Award.

Bailey joined White Stuff as chief operating officer in 2004 before her appointment as chief executive the next year.

She has helped transform White Stuff from a small skiwear retailer to a fashion lifestyle brand with a portfolio of over 75 shops.

The retailer’s EBITDA soared 38% to £18.4m in its last financial year with sales rocketing 43%. It featured as one of Britain’s fastest-growing private companies in the 2011 Profit Track 100. The chain is now plotting an international expansion.

Bailey has 20 years of retail experience and has worked at Arcadia, Debenhams and Freemans.