‘The first time we opened up Ludstone Hall to the public, there was a lady who said to me that she had waited all her life to see inside the house,” Steve Smith says. This majestic Jacobean manor has been described as one of the most historically important houses in the West Midlands, but to Steve, 61, it was simply his parents’ home for 27 years. He remembers viewing the house with his father, Keith, with whom he co-founded the retailer Poundland in 1990. His parents were returning to the UK following a number of years living in Mallorca and they were looking for a country pile in which to spend their twilight years. Steve described the house as “derelict” when Keith bought it from

Source: The Times November 22, 2024 10:37 UTC