Capturing a time of transition for a real family business

David Milner was 65 on Wednesday and few retirements can have been documented so carefully.

For the past few months, the TV crews, led by producer Richard Macer, have been filming almost every detail of the handover from Mr Milner to his daughter, Leonie, and her husband, Keith Garrard.

Mr Macer explained that, for a mini-series about the few remaining independent department stores in the country, they had searched for three which illustrated clearly the transitional stage these shops are experiencing as they try to survive in the 21st century.

The department store in Leyburn is much smaller than the other two chosen and this meant that little escaped the prying eye of the cameras.

Mr Macer said: "What we have had is a strong sense of how it is for David to be facing up to the fact that he will be shortly stepping down.

"It is difficult to hand on to someone else something that you have nurtured and loved and has taken up a large part of your life.

"There is a really a unique relationship between David, this shop and the people around here."

He felt that Mr Milner was loved by the older customers and that some didn't even mind his eccentric time-keeping.

Mr Milner explained that, for years, he had gone to visit dales folk in their homes with clothes for all the family - just like his great-grandfather Christopher had done when he started the business in Hawes in the 1880s.

He said: "It was a great way to do business, but I never used my watch to any degree because I knew I was out from nine in the morning to six at night. I didn't look at my watch - I just carried on all day."

He joined his father, Raymond, as a partner in the business in 1966 when there were two shops, one in Leyburn and the other in Middleham.

His pattern of work began to change in the 1970s when more dales people got cars and could drive into Leyburn and other shopping centres.

At that time of transition, it was decided to extend the Leyburn shop and sell the one in Middleham, and that Mr Milner would develop the carpet-fitting side of the business while his father took care of the clothing section.

Mr Milner said: "As soon as I started doing carpets, sales shot up".

As he visited homes in the dales to take measurements and discuss carpets, he often met friends who were building up their own businesses locally, like Rodney Tennant and Ian Leithley.

Mr Leithley later bought the premises in Leyburn where Cyril Milner (Christopher's son) had run a department store until the Second World War.

Those premises became part of Mr Leithley's successful supermarket chain until he sold it to the Co-op.

Mr Milner did consider selling his business four years ago as he was approaching retirement age.

Thankfully, his daughter and sonin- law decided to take it on. But this transition has proved traumatic for all the family, including Mr Milner's wife, Linda.

She had never been too involved with the business until she retired from teaching seven years ago.

Since then, she has occasionally worked in the shop and is now assisting her daughter, not only by caring for the young grandchildren, Eleanor and Annabel, but also with buying clothes for the store.

"It's been harder for Eleanor," said Mrs Garrard. "Before, I was a fulltime mum and always took her to school and picked her up afterwards.

"This move has completely changed my whole way of life. For me, it is a juggling act as I have my family to think about.

"But I have enjoyed it. It is completely different to what I expected.

"There is so much to do and so few people to do it. It is constantly moving. I always keep our customers in mind when I am buying.

"We are not like M&S - our customers have names and faces. We have loyal customers and they have been coming for years.

"If someone comes looking for a specific item, I know whether we have got it or not, or if we can order it."

Her husband said: "Family values are important to Milner's and we want to maintain its good reputation.

We enjoy serving the community."

He is taking over the carpet and soft furnishings department from Mr Milner.

"There is a demand locally for a quality service where nothing is too much.

"We bring the products to them and so take the hassle out of it," he added.

Mr Milner's retirement, however, does not look as if it is going to be as clear-cut as they expected.

After the recent very successful spring charity fashion show at the store, Mr Milner said: "Maybe this is the climax of my little empire.

"But I can't see them letting me walk away because they don't have a replacement for me.

"Keith can't look after the shop and go out to fit blinds and curtains.

"It is keeping me fit. If I go on until 90 I will have another 25 years," he chuckled.

But he doesn't really want to do that as he and his wife are looking forward to doing some of those things that they haven't had time for over the years.

"When he does retire, he will be sorely missed," said Mr Macer. "I think he is unique person and a fantastic character. Everyone here is a great character. It's been great fun filming here."

That was obvious during the fashion show, when even one of the producers, Zoe Thorman, enjoyed modelling some of the clothes.

Which gave Mr Macer an opportunity to film her in pyjamas.

Yet, however much the Milner family made the film crews welcome, even Mr Milner finally admitted after the fashion show that he would be grateful when he and the staff were no longer having so many aspects of their lives filmed.

The documentary will be shown on BBC4 in the autumn. The other two stores being filmed are P J Morgan in Swansea and Peters of Huddersfield.