Sir Tom Hunter in the driving seat for Cruise control as he rejoins acquisition trail

SIR Tom Hunter is in pole position to buy Cruise, the Scottish designer clothing retailer, for about £6 million, it has emerged.

The entrepreneur's investment vehicle West Coast Capital is believed to have fought off a number of other bidders for the business, including JD Sports.

It is understood West Coast Capital is now in the final stages of negotiations with Bank of Scotland, which took control of Cruise earlier this month from restructuring specialist Hilco. Cruise has experienced a patchy few years after going into administration in May 2009.

A spokesman for Hunter said: "We remain very interested in acquiring the Cruise business."

The deal would mark Hunter's return to the acquisitions market after several years of turmoil, in which he lost heavily on a number of investments, including his exposure to housebuilder Crest Nicholson and retirement homes business McCarthy & Stone.

But the Scots tycoon has recently enjoyed a 165m windfall from deals, including the sale of shoe retailer Office to private equity group Silverfleet Capital, and Wood Group's surprise takeover of Production Services Network - in which West Coast Capital held a significant stake.