Why one of Hartlepool’s oldest shopkeepers has delayed retirement indefinitely at the age of 82

Jimmy Gettings has been running his picture framing shop La Mirage for over 30 years - fighting through Covid, cancer and the cost of living crisis.

At the start of the year, the 82-year-old businessman announced he would retire in August.

But he has now put the plans on hold indefinitely.

"I have so many great customers I decided to stay a bit longer,” said Mr Gettings, who still works five days a week.

"If I retired I would have nothing to do.

"I like what I do and I have some great customers who come in the shop. A lot of my customers have been coming in for about 30 years.

“Some are longer with us but there are still a lot of people coming and I have to give them what they want.”

La Mirage first opened in Elwick Road and moved around various locations in the town centre before settling in Alma Street, where it has been based since 2008.

Mr Gettings has framed all sorts of personal items for customers in addition to the normal pictures, photographs and newspaper cuttings.

He once framed a miniskirt worn by a Coronation Street actress and several pieces of memorabilia for police officers including those from TV’s Police Interceptors.

The past few years have been turbulent for the store owner after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2019.

He returned to trading at the start of 2020, but then pandemic restrictions forced him to close and he later had to battle through Covid when he contracted the virus in October 2020.

This year businesses and families have faced the cost of living crisis with Mr Gettings saying costs for his materials have increased too.

But this has not fazed him and he has vowed to keep the store open for as long as he can – without picking a date for his future retirement.

"It’s somewhere to go to and keep interested,” Mr Gettings said.

He added: “I would miss my customers. These people keep me going.”