It was a momentous year, 1964. BBC2 started broadcasting. Scotland beat England 1-0 at the fitba. Under The Counter got his bus pass.
And Derek and Pauline Hughes opened a convenience store in Birmingham, which has just been named the UK’s longest-standing business run by a married couple.
That’s according to someone at financial technology company SumUp, who was clearly bored of doing whatever fintech bros do, and decided to spend the afternoon rooting through old newspaper archives and company records instead.
Derek & Pauline’s Corner Shop, to give the store its full moniker, is a shining beacon for everything that’s great about convenience retailing. “Just what a local independent shop should be like. Not just for essential groceries but also as the heart of the community,” as one of many five-star Google reviews reads.
Speaking of shining beacons, the store’s fascia is something to behold. Eschewing the stripped-down minimalist look favoured by symbol groups, it features a painting of the elderly couple smiling alongside images of the stuff sold in the shop. Three-dimensional and backlit it is not.
A mere stripling compared to UTC, 89-year-old Deek recalls the day the store opened. “It was a Tuesday. We had a load of mushrooms from the market.”
This feat of recollection impressed the Auld Boy no end. The last time Under The Counter had a load of mushrooms he couldn’t remember what planet he was on, never mind the day of the week.
