Venture firm Scottish Equity Partners’s £12m Matches investment

The clothing retailer – which stocks dresses by more than 250 designers including Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen and Yves Saint Laurent – brings in about 60 per cent of its £50m annual sales from its website.

The company’s internet revenues have grown by 120 per cent in the past year, while the firm has continued to expand its chain of 14 stores in up-market parts of London, including Mayfair, Notting Hill and Richmond.

SEP’s cash will allow the company – which was founded in 1990 by Ruth and Tom Chapman – to expand its online operations and fund its further push into international markets.

Andrew Davison, one of the partners at SEP, is joining Matches’ board. He said: “We are delighted to be the company’s first private equity backer and to have the opportunity to support such a talented team.

“Tom and Ruth Chapman have built Matches Fashion into a highly trusted and iconic brand. Our investment will enable the company to expand its online operations and cement its position as a leading global fashion business.”

SEP remained tight-lipped about the size of stake it had taken in Matches. Documents filed at Companies House listed the Chapmans as the only two existing shareholders.

Other labels stocked by the retailer include Balenciaga, Isabel Marant and Nina Ricci.

Matches is the latest IT company in which SEP has bought a stake, joining the likes of Nokia chip supplier CamSemi, anti- piracy software firm Metaforic and Edinburgh-based flight comparison website Skyscanner.

Technology companies in which SEP has previously invested include Edinburgh-based trio Craneware, IndigoVision and Wolfson Microelectronics, which work across software, CCTV systems and audio chips.

SEP has also been pumping money into the energy and healthcare sectors, with other companies in its portfolio including wave energy device developer Aquamarine Power, aerial inspection outfit Cyberhawk and contact lens maker Daysoft.

Last week SEP teamed up with the high street banks’ £2.5 billion Business Growth Fund (BGF) to pump £20m into London-based “cloud computing” company SkyDox. The BGF was set up last year by Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland and Asia-focused lender Standard Chartered to invest between £2m and £10m in companies for a minimum stake of 10 per cent.

In May, former Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander joined SEP’s advisory board, taking a seat beside technology veteran Crawford Beveridge, British Polythene Industries executive chairman Cameron McLatchie and ex-Cairn Energy chief operating officer Malcolm Thoms.