Fashion businessman to retire after 62 year career

Kenneth Clive has said he will retire in November and enjoy his first Christmas off for 62 years

A Wolverhampton business owner has finally agreed to take retirement after a career that span more than 60 years.

Kenneth Clive, 76, will shut up his shop - Kenneth Clive Menswear in Pattingham, South Staffordshire - for the final time in November.

He entered the industry as a 15-year-old and went on to manage stores across the West Midlands and London's West End for Hepworths, which later became Next, before starting his own fashion empire.

And had it not been an impromptu trip to the pictures, he would have likely been caught up in the Birmingham pub bombings in 1974, he claimed.

Recounting his life Mr Clive was able to detail the exact time, date and location when his career began, after being promised a job at Hepworth's when he left school.

He said: "It all started at quarter to five on the 1 March 1964 on Dudley Street, Wolverhampton, when I walked into Hepworths and said 'this is me'."

"I was told that I wasn't supposed to start until Monday, but I said 'I start now, you said when I left school and I've just absconded from school'."

By the age of 20 he was managing his first shop in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, which was followed up by a second shop in Dudley 14 months later and a third shop in Birmingham three years after that.

It was while working in his Birmingham store, located in King Edwards House at New Street, he said he was "fortunate" to live to tell the tale.

"I lived through the bombs in Birmingham in 1974. I was nearly blown up - our shop was in King Edward House and the Tavern In The Town was below us.

"I think the bombing happened at 11 minutes past eight and I should have been in there, but fortunately I had to go to the pictures that night so I cancelled going in."

After his narrow escape, he was promoted to the role of London's regional manager and oversaw 24 stores in locations such as Regent Street, Marble Arch and Oxford Street.

"I lived in the West End in London. It was fantastic. It was very exciting being in the West End," he said.

"I had a company flat for £7 a week, which is worth £2m now I would think."

Mr Clive described living and working in London's West End as "fantastic"

But in 1980, he opted to return to his roots in Wolverhampton.

"I wanted a house and I couldn't afford London. I had to leave Next to do so but it was good to be back."

For the next three years, he worked as a freelance fashion consultant, providing home tailoring for disabled clients.

Then on 4 November 1983, Kenneth Clive Menswear in Pattingham was born.

"At one point, we had three [shops] in Pattingham. We had a shoe shop, a lady's shop and one for menswear," Mr Clive said. "Then in 1988, I opened up a shop in Coalway Road, Wolverhampton."

The original menswear shop is all that remains, and that will close in November.

"I'm 76 and I said I would retire at 55, so I've had an extra 20 years much to the dissatisfaction of my wife but I just loved it," the businessman said.

"But you have to retire sometime, and I've never had a Christmas away in 62 years so that's what I think I'll do - I'm thinking the Caribbean."

Asked what he would consider to be one of his fondest memories, he said hiring West End star Beverley Knight MBE to perform at his wedding for just £80 in 1998.

He said: "At our wedding, I had Beverley Knight singing. I met her in a pub in Wolverhampton so I booked her, £80. She was great."