A BELOVED manager from a gentlemen's clothes shop in Oswestry is leaving the business after 44 years.

Derek McCormack has been the Majors' manager since he was 21, and since then, he has made sure that people left the store with what they came in for and some more.

Those people got 'Dereked', a term of endearment used by the community to show how good he was at his job all these years.

"When I first started here I had to grow a moustache, because when people were coming in and asking for the manager they didn't believe it was me," he said.

"Now I built on that and people come here and buy more than they originally planned, and a lot of them know me well. "

Border Counties Advertizer: Frame inside the shop, showing customers getting 'Dereked'

As time went by Derek had the opportunity to know his customers very well, and became friends with a lot of them and he is incredible grateful to his staff that have been working alongside him in the past 14 years and will continue to run the store.

"My customers are not just customers, they are friends," he added.

"I am sad to leave, and I will miss my staff and customers immensely, but I've got this new challenge to take on now."

Derek will be leaving Oswestry to be closer to his family down in Bournemouth, but he revealed he won't be retiring any time soon.

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He said: "My children and grandchildren have all grown now, so I decided that it's time I see more of them and I am closer.

"At 61 I still have plenty of life left in me, and I feel very fit and well.

"I was offered a job in a similar establishment as this one, and I will have a similar role, and I am really looking forward to it."

He will be leaving to start his new job on November 21, but he is really excited for it, adding: "I saw an opportunity and I took it, and I thought now was the perfect time for it."