Never be late for a meeting with Ray Kelvin. The chief executive of Ted Baker, the fashion retailer, insists on ten press-ups, there and then. Mr Kelvin, who labels himself “the closest man to Ted” on his business cards (he invented Ted Baker), has always been different.

The reclusive yet charismatic entrepreneur rarely agrees to an interview and will be pictured only if his face is partly covered. That has led to a series of bizarre PR shoots, including one with Mr Kelvin wearing a snorkel and mask to plug Ted Baker’s machine-washable suit.

At head office, the reception staff at the Ugly Brown Building in Camden speak to guests via a video screen. Anyone catching the lift is encouraged to press buttons that emit a riff from an Aerosmith song or a blast from Enio Morricone’s The Good, The Bad and The Ugly soundtrack.

The thinking behind all of this, however, is no joke. The man closest to Ted wants customers to “touch” the brand. “If customers feel like they have discovered a brand themselves, they become much more loyal,” he says. The approach seems to be working.

Figures yesterday showed that sales across the group were up 15.4 per cent on last year in the 19 weeks to June 7, in stark contrast to the carnage among other clothing retailers. Analysts put much down to Mr Kelvin’s unwillingness to compromise on detail or quality.

He began working at his uncle’s hosiery store in Enfield aged 11 and opened the first Ted Baker outlet in 1988. The chain floated in 1997 and now has stores worldwide. His success has attracted the attention of rivals, not least supermarkets that, he claims, come in to copy his designs.

“I haven’t taken anyone to court though,” he says. “They pay up. I just make a phone call and say, ‘Ted says can you do the right thing please’. They send me a cheque.”