THERE will be a rare chance to meet the enigmatic founder of the Ted Baker fashion brand at an event in the Daily Echo building.

Ray Kelvin, who maintains an enigmatic presence and hides his face in photographs, has called Bournemouth a “second home” to his family.

He will answer questions for Virgin Startup on Wednesday, June 14, 6.30pm-9pm, in the Echo’s former print room in THIS Workspace.

The event is billed as an extremely rare opportunity to meet Mr Kelvin and ask about how Ted Baker started, how the brand became a global icon and how he maintains his elusive public presence.

Mr Kelvin, 61, had supplied clothes to Burton before he created the Ted Baker brand in 1988 as a men’s shirt shop in Glasgow. It expanded into a global business.

The company pioneered what it calls “Teducation” – promotion by guerrilla marketing and social media.

Explaining his aversion to being photographed in public, Mr Kelvin told the Daily Telegraph: “I am an ugly b***er. I don’t want people to see my face. I am not into all that.”

He told the Independent: “Being wealthy and showy is not what I do. I don’t have a yacht and never will have one and I don’t own a plane. I don’t come from that type of background of being showy and I don’t like it.

“A lot of people in retail are quite aggressive and ugly and I don’t think there’s any need for it. I don’t shout and scream. I’m not here shouting at landlords or suppliers, because people work better when they’re happy.”

Mr Kelvin was a major backer of the Hilton hotel development in Bournemouth.

In 2013, attending a planning board meeting at Bournemouth council, he said the development would be “shiny and beautiful”.

He said: “Bournemouth is a second home to my family and I’ve personally put tens of millions into the scheme.

“I used to come here with my parents, on holiday, in the good old days and I love the town.”

Tickets are on Eventbrite, starting at £5 including a glass of Prosecco, and the event is expected to sell out. Visitors to the Facebook page StartUp U can post questions there.