Tycoon who started from his father's garage has history of support from Philip Green

Tom Hunter is one of Scotland's best-known businessmen, thanks to a canny mix of entrepreneurial flair and good old-fashioned philanthropy. The 41-year-old grocer's son burst on to the British retail scene from the unlikely starting point of his father's Ayrshire garage.

From there in the early Eighties – with the help of a £40-a-week enterprise allowance and a loan or two – Mr Hunter started Sports Division, a sportswear chain that made his name and later his fortune. It also introduced him to some of the heavyweights of today's British retailing scene. Philip Green, the flamboyant rag trader-turned-billionaire whose Bhs and Arcadia retail groups dominate the nation's high streets, was an early stakeholder in Mr Hunter's sportswear chain following the merger of his Olympus Sports group with Sports Division.

The sale, in 1998, of Sports Division to Dave Whelan's JJB Sports netted Mr Hunter £260m, while the subsequent sale of his stake in JJB earned him a further £52m. He was ranked Britain's 74th richest man in the recent The Sunday Times Rich List with an estimated fortune of £400m. This includes a 5 per cent stake in Bhs, worth £40m to £50m.

Mr Hunter says Mr Green is not involved in the bid company for House of Fraser. But analysts believe he may take a stake as the two have a history of supporting each other's deals.

For the past four years Mr Hunter, who has homes in Ayrshire, France and London, has made a name for himself fostering Scottish entre-preneurship. He chairs the Entrepreneurial Exchange and together with Jim McMahon founded West Coast Capital – a private equity fund that aims to seek out fast-growth businesses in the retail, property and leisure/branding sectors. He also owns the d2 high street jeans and fashion chain.

Recent West Coast Capital investments have included the acquisition of the Gadget Shop, chaired by fellow Scottish wunderkind Chris Gorman. Whether House of Fraser, the sluggish department stores group, meets the criteria of Mr Hunter's other investments remains to be seen.