Creative in three months as a joint venture with Marks & Spencer, Per Una ( For one (woman)), had a logo of three hearts inspired by a postcard Davies picked up in Italy whilst looking for ideas for the new collection. Within three years of launch, per una was creating an annual turnover in excess of £230M, which was over 10% of Marks & Spencer womenswear sales. More importantly, Per Una was attracting a younger audience back into the store, which was having a positive knock on effect in other departments. The Financial Times reported that it was Per Una that put Davies in the super-rich league (he sold the 5-year-old business to Marks & Spencer in 2004 for £125 million) as part of the retailer's efforts to block a potential takeover by entrepreneur Sir Philip Green. “It (Per Una) was absolutely fundamental in the resurgence of the core appeal of womenswear," said Roger Holmes, the former chief executive of M&S who signed Davies up in 2001 to bring the Per Una range to Marks. "Put in the context of the value it created from saving the company as a whole, it was creating billions of profits for shareholders." Did it save the company? "Yes, I don't think that overstates the case." Sir Stuart Rose saw through the acquisition of the Per Una brand and Davies stayed on with the company until 2008, which also saw the launch of his GD 25 range celebrating Davies' 25 anniversary in the fashion industry. According to many newspaper articles between 2005 and 2008, the relationship that Davies enjoyed with Rose was not as cordial as the one with his predecessors, Holmes and Vandevelde. However, in a recent article in the business section of The Guardian, it appeared the relationship was back on an even-keel. Davies stated: "Stuart and I talk. We have a lot in common on a personal level and in truth, I couldn't do what he does and he probably couldn't do what I do." Recently asked by the Sunday Times what his most lucrative piece of work has ever been, Davies responded: "Building up Per Una and selling it on to Marks & Spencer, without a doubt." On Davies' departure from Per Una in December 2008, Rose commented in the Daily Telegraph that "I'll eat my hat if he wants to go and launch another business." GIVe On 13 June