Tribute to Co-op boss who ran Hinckley store for many years

A well-known community figure who ran the former Co-op store in Hinckley for many years has died of leukaemia.

Mervyn Perkins passed away at home on Wednesday April 15 after developing acute myeloid leukaemia, having recovered for three heart attacks in recent years.

He rose through the ranks working with Co-operative societies in Coventry and then in Hinckley, and was a keen sportsman and gardener.

He leaves behind his wife, Lyn, and son, Troy.

Career with the Co-op

Mr Perkins was born and raised in Coventry and moved to Hinckley in the early 1970s, becoming devoted to the people and the area.

As a young man, he was accepted into the Navy at Portsmouth, passing all the exams and hoping to join their elite special forces, but his mother had other plans.

He left school in 1963 when he was 15, starting work at the original Lockhurst Lane Co-operative Society in Coventry, which later merged with the Coventry and District Society.

The former Co-operative store on Castle Street in Hinckley.

He began in the warehouse and progressed quickly to running mobile stores and made his way up through store and area management.

As a food trades officer and food buyer, he was responsible for managing all aspects of almost 50 stores.

When he left home at 15, he lived with his best friend Tony Goddard and his family for eight years, and they stayed close friends for all of his life.

Mr Perkins' family described him as a strong motivated individual with a kind and generous heart, who reciprocated the Goddard’s kindness by reaching out to those going through hard times.

After 22 years at Coventry Co-op, in 1985 he moved from purely food retailing to include non-food, working for the rebranded Heart of England Co-operative Society.

He was tasked with turning the Hinckley departmental store in Castle Street into profit and ran it for many years.

Then he transferred to the larger Nuneaton store to do the same, as furniture buyer and operations manager.

After 44 years’ service, he retired in 2007 and concentrated on his family, garden and bowling green, along with many trips around the UK and the world.

Sports lover

In his youth, Mr Perkins was a keen surfer in Cornwall and loved fast cars.

He was a prolific bowler when he moved to Hinckley especially in his early years in the sport, winning many competitions with Burbage Constitutional Club.

The avid sportsman was a member of the only Burbage team ever to triumph in the Leicestershire County Fours Championship and represented the club at the Worthing Finals in 1988, the year his son was born.

He was so devoted to bowling that his wedding date was arranged for when Hinckley and Burbage played each other, so both teams could attend the wedding and then play their game.

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Over the years, he became involved with the green keeping in Burbage and hugely enjoyed working on and maintaining his own green.

He enjoyed archery, shooting and latterly had started to learn golf.

His busy social life included many bowling gatherings at home, and he was always interested to hear people’s stories and was happy to help in any way he could.

He was not afraid to clown around and loved to impersonate Dudley Moore, making faces and cheering people up.

Passion for nature

Another big interest he had was gardening and the natural world, and he was very knowledgeable about history.

The family wanted to thank the staff at Glenfield Hospital, Leicester Royal Infirmary and Castle Mead Medical Centre in Hinckley, who cared for him and allowed him to return to his garden for his final few days.

Mr Perkins will have a private funeral but the family hope to organise a celebration of his life on September 27, which would have been his 40th wedding anniversary.

They also want to leave a lasting tribute in his name by starting an “Arboretum for Everyone” in the area, as he especially enjoyed the peace of trees, and all the wildlife and birds they attract.