Now, could you tell me where the idea for the business first came from?
Well, the original shop was opened by a retired printer by the name of Gruby. Mr. Gruby being left-handed himself, thought of the idea to try to promote a few products for left-handers.
And how did he then go about actually setting up the business?
Well, he looked for any left-handed products that might already be on the market which were very few. And then contacted the manufactures with the idea of having products produced for him, mainly in the scissors range to start with.
Right. So you do commission some part of your stock.
Yes, very much so. About 75 percent of our stock is specially made for us.
And the rest of it?
Hmm, the rest of it now, some 25, 30 years after Mr. Gruby's initial efforts, there are more left-handed product actually on the market. Manufactures are now beginning to see that there is a market for left-handed products.
And what's the range of your stock?
The range consists of a variety of scissors from children scissors to scissors for tailors, hairdressers etc. We also have a large range of kitchen ware.
What's the competition like? Do you have quite a lot of competition?
There are other people in the business now in specialists, but only as mail-order outlets. But we have a shop here in central London plus a mail-order outlet. And we are without any doubt the largest supplier of the left-handed items.