A MAN has recently celebrated half a century at one of Leominster’s most prominent agricultural businesses.

It has been 50 years since Cyril Amos joined Alexander and Duncan as a 15-year-old trainee in 1962.

Fast-forwarding to the present day, the firm is very much a family affair, with Cyril sharing the company’s top job with his son Simon.

Cyril said: “Originally, we were in the town centre in the former Lion Hotel in Broad Street with its famous ballroom.

“We had a foundry and made all kinds of ironmongery and the spare parts were all catalogued and kept in wooden drawers arranged all around the shop premises.

“It was a traditional layout you don’t get to see very often nowadays.

“But progress in the agricultural world called for bigger and better machines, so we had to find new premises that could accommodate us and the service and spares departments too.”

The company moved to its current Southern Avenue site in 1975 and nowsupplies agricultural machinery to about 1,500 customers.

“I know most of them and they are loyal and friendly and mostly my mates,” said Cyril.

“They are the lynchpin of the business and we help each other in a successful partnership underpinned by a team of skilled and long-serving employees.”