OUTDOOR clothing store Fat Face is riding the growth wave. Sales for the UK company are up 48% and the Guernsey shop is also doing well.

‘Sales at the Guernsey store are very positive. It is a profitable store for the company,’ said a spokesman.

The company was founded in 1988 by ‘ski fanatics’ Tim Slade and Jules Leaver. The pair started selling fleeces out of their backpacks on skiing adventures in the Alps.

The name was inspired by Le Face, an Olympic black run in the popular French ski resort of Val d’Isere.

The founders still act as guardians of the brand but are not involved operationally.

The local store opened in 2000 and Michelle Griffiths has been the manager

since summer 2001.

The philosophy behind the company is that life is out there for those who want to find it and Mrs Griffiths agrees.

‘I go snowboarding every year and I like to make the most of the outdoors in Guernsey,’ she said.

She said that the seafront store was popular with people staying in the marinas and those who enjoy sport. She added that the shop also had ‘loyal, local Fat Face fans’.

The local shop is also a sponsor of an annual surf competition between Guernsey and Jersey. This year’s competition has yet to be confirmed.

The company has 87 stores in the British Isles and France. It returned profits of £2.4m. against £1.5m. the previous year, with sales doubled over the past two years.