THE past and present owners of a tool shop business have met up to celebrate its 50th birthday.

AC Jones Discount Tools, Whetley Lane, Girlington, opened for business on February 10, 1967, and was initially run by Arthur Clifford Jones and his son Robin.

Arthur started the business after selling tools from a van since 1961.

Robin took over the family firm from his father, who retired in 1984. Robin’s wife, Anne, eventually came on board and the couple ran the shop until they retired in 2006.

The business has been run by the Zsigmonds; Stephen, Angie and Peter, ever since.

Stephen already ran an established wholesale business, J&E Zsigmond, who were one of AC Jones’ principal suppliers before he took over the shop.

The corner shop sells thousands of items from washers and nails to circular saws, which vary in price from 25p to hundreds of pounds.

AC Jones now sells goods to the DIY tarde and professional tradespeople and even schools in the Bradford district for their design and technology classes. Robin, now 73, said: “I think my dad would have been happy that the shop was still here.

“It is very difficult for small businesses to carry on these days.

“It is very gratifying to know that it is still here. I am quite proud that it is still here. When the shop first opened we sold Government surplus and engineering tools.

“There is a totally different carry on now compared to what there used to be.

“We supplied tools to engineers who worked in the textile mills.

“Our business has always been mainly trade orientated, not so much DIY, like B&Q for instance.”

The shop has even received national recognition after it won the Tool Repairer of the Year - Silver Award at the 2009 Britain’s Best Tool Retailer competition run by DIY Week.

The reputation of AC Jones as a long-standing firm has attracted a loyal customer base which now spans the generations.

Stephen, 60, said the buy-to-let market in Bradford has also boosted his business over recent years.

He said: “We get grandchildren of some of our earliest customers who come in.

“We sell thousands of items, from loose washers to power tools.

“The business has changed. Businesses always have to evolve.

“We now sell a lot of door furniture items, for instance for replacement doors.”

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