Nigel clocks up 40 years at Currys in Shrewsbury

Nigel Davies has clocked up 40 years working at Dixons and successor Currys in Shrewsbury.

Nigel, 58, from Meole Brace, Shrewsbury, works at Currys Digital in the town's Darwin Centre and has been with the firm since he was 18. Then the store was under the Dixons banner and was based in Mardol Head.

He has won an incredible 25 consecutive national sales awards with the electrical retail giants.

As a reward for his four decades of service, Currys Digital have presented him with £1,000 worth of M&S vouchers, as well as a letter from the company's chief executive Sebastian James.

Nigel said he could still remember when he came in for his job interview as an 18 year old.

"I was from Gobowen and I came to Shrewsbury to look for work and at the end of the interview the manager asked me if I could start right away and I've never looked back," he said:

"I've enjoyed every minute of it and I still love it.

"It was very different back then though. It was called Dixons then and we used to sell rubber dinghies – I remember there was one in the shop window and people used to buy them, too.

"We also stocked golf clubs and golfwear because there was a sports section upstairs, so it was all very different.

"Our most popular items were cine projectors and cine cameras, they were all the rage then back in 1972 as well as SLR cameras but it's all digital now and the rubber dinghies and golf clubs are long gone.

"Our biggest sellers now are laptop computers and that's what I specialise in but we can deal with any enquiries. You have to keep up to date and that's always a challenge.

"But the best part of the job is still the same and that's meeting different people every day and trying to find the right solutions for them – that's the most interesting aspect and what I enjoy the most."

He said he had enjoyed a couple of brushes with celebrities during his working life.

"Roy Wood, of Wizzard, used to come in a lot when he was living in Shrewsbury and I sold him a few things.

"He was a really nice guy, a real gentleman, and so was the actor Pete Postlethwaite who lived in Shropshire."

Store deputy manager Wendy Campbell said: "He is a super salesperson and really does the business for us and for customers.

"He's fantastic, half of Shrewsbury seems to know him and they always look for him. A lot of people won't go to anyone else.

"You ask if you can help them and they reply, 'Just waiting for Nigel.'

"But he doesn't rest on his laurels and in this business you have to keep up with the latest technology and be able to answer questions about it but you can bet that Nigel already knows his stuff."

Nigel said he had no plans to give up work: "I haven't got any retirement plans just yet, another 40 years and I should be in a wheelchair but at 58 I'm still a spring chicken."

By Chris Burn