Tea merchant who worked into his 90s remembered

A man who worked as a tea merchant for more than 60 years has passed away at the age of 93, his company has announced.

Derek Miles ran Miles Tea and Coffee in West Somerset for 64 years after starting his business back in 1961.

Mr Miles bought tea from Avonmouth Docks near Bristol and packaged it on his kitchen table at his home in Porlock in West Somerset.

Miles Tea and Coffee, which is now based in Minehead and Porlock, distributes its products to supermarkets and shops across the country.

In his early days, he was a tea inspector in Avonmouth, and that gave him the opportunity to buy tea, which he took home to Porlock, and started packing on his kitchen table.

John Halls, who co-owns the company, described Mr Miles as the firm's "guiding light".

"He was everything to this business," Mr Halls explained.

"I'm surprised at how much the Miles name means to everybody.

"When you work in the business you don't quite realise the legacy that you're building, and we've seen that in the outpouring of lovely comments about Derek.

"He was a quiet man, he didn't laud it about, but he was really highly thought of in the tea trade and for a small company to be really regarded in that way, meant something to him."

Mr Halls said even in his 90s, Mr Miles would still visit the office in Minehead for meetings.

"He kept it going until the last three to six months," he said.

The business said it will still continue to operate as normal in his absence.

"Our central thought was always 'would Derek like what we're doing here?' and if the answer was no, we didn't do it, it was a guiding principle for us."

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