Local Face: Andrew North

Andrew and Loraine North were running Cyrano’s in Chesham when the opportunity arose to buy an old pub. They jumped at the chance because they knew the location well and were delighted to settle in the Wendover area. They worked hard to make The Black Horse Restaurant at Dunsmore the great success we all remember from 1984 to 1993.

At the end of this fairly long stint in the restaurant bAnusiness, Andrew wound down by building an extension on his home, when this had finished he started looking around for ideas of a new business.

He was out buying casual clothes for a ski holiday, when the new idea came to him. Wendover needed another good shop for casual men’s clothes. Over the holiday he continued to think about the new venture. The day he returned from Austria was Mothers Day, and he went down to Wendover to buy Loraine flowers from the Floral Design Company and found their lease was for sale, and that was that. Time Menswear opened on 1st September 1994 and the rest, as they say, is history. After a positive start the business started to grow, and continued to do so throughout the year. People find time after time that after searching around Aylesbury and Milton Keynes, they come back to Wendover and find what they were looking for. For a small shop Time Menswear stocks a wide range of top quality brands going up to 48″ chest and also specialises in trousers with very long legs. Andrew’s original training in menswear during the 60’s is standing him in very good stead.

By December 1994 Time Menswear had expanded into the hire of Dress Suits, a side of the business which has gone from strength to strength. By Spring, Andrew had added Morning suits in time for the Wedding Season and again, this was just what the customer ordered.

This did however put severe strain on the present premises as a great deal more space was needed. But as luck would have it, Rene Nunn and Joy Pickard of Biddies had decided to hang up their tape measures and retire, thus making their premises available. This was a great opportunity to gain the extra space needed and – not wishing to see a successful shop close, decided to entrust Loraine his wife (who has also a background in Ladies Fashions) and keep Biddies going alongside Time Menswear, adding Ballgown hire to the services later this year. Andrew has no regrets about setting up shop in Wendover, he says he loves the town and the people. A new business is always risky, but the support from the community has been tremendous and he would like to extend a big thank you to them all.

He says, he believes Wendover has a great future and adds “It has certainly been good to me”. “The change takes place on January 29th and we look forward to seeing all our customers old and new in our new shop.”