A shopkeeper who has been compared to Arkwright from Open All Hours says he has no plans to hang up his apron.
Paul Broadbent works seven days a week at his shop, FW Lucas, and has barely taking a day off since 1972 – apart from Christmas Day.
He has recently considered selling up but has now ruled it out for the time being–- because he can’t find anyone to take on the store.
“I have worked every day apart from Christmas Day since I saw you last,” Paul told an Examiner reporter, recalling an interview in April last year .
“I work 14 hour days, although I do get a couple of hours off in the afternoon Monday to Thursday. Yes, I do open on Sundays.”
Paul, whose shop at Norristhorpe, Liversedge , sells everything from DIY equipment to toys and cigs, said he had hoped to be approached by someone who was serious about taking over the shop, but so far it hasn’t happened.
He doesn’t want to advertise the shop through a ‘business sales’ company.
“I don’t want to show lots of folk around and have them poring over the books,” he said. “I was hoping someone would step forward. One or two people showed interest but there was nothing definite.”
Paul, who is in his early 60s, said he hadn’t any plans to retire just yet.
“I’m going to keep going and do what I do best.”
Last year he told that Examiner that she still wanted to do some travelling, having got a taste for it when he was a child, his parents having taken him to France, Belgium, Germany, Spain and Switzerland.
Paul used to run the shop with his father Herbert. The pair worked together for so long that they were compared to Arkwright and Granville from the Yorkshire-based sitcom Open All Hours.
After his father died in 2002, Paul continued alone, working seven days a week.
It has been a labour of love but it meant he hasn’t had a holiday since his early 20s.
