I stayed Open All Hours in busiest year ever
A REAL-LIFE ‘Arkwright’ who has been running an Open All Hours store for nearly half a century says he may finally be forced to put his feet up – after his busiest year yet.
Paul Broadbent has worked at FW Lucas corner shop in Liversedge, West Yorkshire, since he was 17.
Like Ronnie Barker’s character in the much-loved BBC sitcom, Mr Broadbent, 65, has seen it all as the proprietor of an old-fashioned general store.
But even he was not prepared for the hugely increased workload resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.
To meet demand, he worked for 15 hours a day, seven days a week, in 2020, taking only Christmas Day off.
‘I have never been so busy in my life as in this past year,’ he said. ‘People were buying loads of alcohol as well as stuff like gardening equipment to keep busy while they were stuck at home. It was good for business but it was a lot of work to do.’
The business was opened by Mr Broadbent’s grandparents in 1 34 and he started working there in the early 1 70s. He ran the shop alongside dad Herbert until his death 30 years later.
Unsurprisingly, the pair were dubbed Arkwright and Granville – the latter played in the TV series by David Jason, who himself became the shop’s owner in the sequel Still Open All Hours.
Mr Broadbent sells everything from pots and pans to pet food and garden incinerators – the last of which proved to be his most popular line of the year, with 100 items sold.
But the immense workload has left him feeling worn out.
‘I have no family so it’s pretty much a one man band,’ he said. ‘I have someone helping 18 hours a week but the rest is all me. I’m hoping this year I might be able to move the shop on.
‘It’s very important to me so I would want to pass it on to the right person.’