It was love at first sale when Derek and Pauline Hughes opened their corner store in Cotteridge, Birmingham in 1964. Still running their shop together 61 years later, the couple are not past their sell-by date yet.
Derek and Pauline haven’t changed – but prices have. In 1964, the cost of a sliced white loaf was 5p, a pint of milk was 3p and – if you fancied it – a packet of cigarettes was 20 pence. Forget self-service checkouts, the latest technology was the new £10 note.
Six decades later, Derek, 89, and Pauline, 84, are still running “Derek and Pauline’s” store on the same site on Midland Road making them, according to a new study by contactless payment company SumUp, the UK’s longest-serving husband and wife business. SumUp estimate there are 1.4 million businesses run by couples in the UK.
Even during the pandemic when the shop was closed, Derek and Pauline – by then in their eighties – transformed their shop into a mobile greengrocer service, delivering essentials to vulnerable and elderly residents in the area who were unable to leave the house.
Derek and Pauline married in March 1962 and they’ve been walking down the aisles ever since. They have two children, Andrew and Jennifer. Recalling their spring wedding day, Pauline says, “When we went into the church, the sun was shining. When we left it had started snowing.”
By April 1964, “Derek and Pauline’s” shop was born. Derek says, “My parents had had their own shop in Stirchley and I always wanted one of my own. When I spotted an old cobbler’s shop for sale in Cotteridge, I had to buy it. I begged a loan from the bank and we were off.”
Many might assume that working together for six decades could lead to disagreements, but Derek insists they have never argued and cannot remember a single time they have fallen out, either at work or at home. If anything, their relationship works because they play to their strengths.
The secret of their long and happy marriage while spending every day together in the shop, is that Pauline loves serving customers and Derek handles the stock takes and trips to the market.
Pauline says, “We’ve worked well together – in the shop and at home – because we balance each other out. We know each other’s best skills, and we’ve always been able to share the workload. It hasn’t always been easy financially, but we’ve made it work because we’ve always been in it together.”
Derek says part of the reason they are so strong as a couple is because they devote themselves to each other and the community. He says, “We organise food bank collections for local charity B30 Foodbank, and we have hosted a Santa’s grotto and Easter Bunny visits. Over time – more than 60 years – people become a bit more than customers, don’t they? A lot are friends as well. Yeah, yeah, and we love talking to them.”
The oldest item in the store is a cash register that came from Derek’s grandad’s shop, which opened before World War II. Derek says: “We don’t have exact age of the till, but it’s very old indeed and it still works great to this day. Being a shopkeeper is certainly in my blood.”
Their business story began in the late 1950s, on a Saturday evening at a ballroom dance class at Laura Dixons in Birmingham City Centre. Derek just had completed his time in the army as a Grenadier Guard and had begun delivering fruit and vegetables around South Birmingham from his van. Pauline, meanwhile, worked as an accountant at the Co-op in Birmingham.
Pauline and Derek admit that recent years have been the hardest in all of their years trading with costs of grocery items rising to record levels. According to Centre for Retail Research data, 11,341 independent retailers in the UK closed their doors in 2024 – a 45% increase compared to 2023 and the highest annual number of closures since 2018.
Despite this, Derek and Pauline have defied the odds, and they credit their longevity to a combination of hard work, adaptability, and a strong personal partnership.
Despite customer tastes changing, they have always tried to buy local produce, visiting the local cash and carry for the freshest goods almost every day. The pair regularly drive out to the countryside on romantic drives where they select and choose plants for their customers.
Derek says, “The first thing we sold was locally grown mushrooms from a local trader called Robbie Prike, before moving into fresh bread from the Bournville Bakery – next to Cadbury’s chocolate factory – along with honey from local hives. When we first opened, I made wooden plant pots to brighten up the storefront.”
Corin Camenisch, global product marketing Lead at SumUp, says it is incredible that – in an era where big supermarkets have moved into the corner store sector, and out of town retail parks have grown – the pair have kept their store alive.
“The success of “Derek and Pauline’s” corner store highlights the strengths of family-run businesses. That is adaptability, strong customer relationships, and a deep understanding of local needs,” she says. “Their story is a reminder that small businesses thrive not just by selling products, but by building lasting connections with the people they serve.”
As they approach their 62nd year of business – the business now almost at legal retirement age itself – the pair have no interest in slowing down. Derek says: “It’s hard work but I won’t stop – not until I am ready to retire. Always having a family over the years that’s been willing to help has been vital to keeping the business alive.”