Boss Geoff still going strong...

Geoff was 52 back in 1979 and the Geoff Hill Electrical and Gas Superstore, then based in Brettell Lane, already had 20 years of trading behind it thanks to Geoff’s efforts to offer customers competitive prices, technical help, a delivery and installation service and repair facilities for his vast range of electrical goods.

These days, he has taken a back seat from the business, now in Amblecote High Street, but the shop still has a loyal customer base and a long-serving dedicated team running it.

Its continuing success has also enabled Geoff to make grants totalling nearly £250,000 to more than 900 charities across the borough and beyond through his Charitable Trust scheme over the last 15 years.

The big-hearted businessman, who lives in Wordsley, donates 10 per cent of the business’s nett profits to the trust, which has helped out charities such as Mary Stevens Hospice, Stourbridge Age Concern, as well as Scouts, Guides and other groups and deserving individuals such as Robert Parsons, from Norton, who lost his arms and legs to meningitis.

Geoff, now 82, has also devoted countless hours of his spare time to helping charitable causes, raising millions over the years, a feat which saw him voted ITV’s West Midlander of the Year in 2003 and honoured with the MBE in 2004.

He even found time to pen his autobiography, From Riches to Rags, in 2006 detailing the vast array of ventures, jobs and hobbies he has undertaken during his colourful and eventful life.

And next year, with wife Sue at his side, he’ll be marking 50 years in business.

He said: “We’re not doing too badly – the competition now is so intense as all the supermarkets are doing electricals and the internet is a big thing – but we’re still holding our own. So hopefully we’ll be doing a bit of celebrating next October.”