Toby Boyes, retailer

One of the company’s leading buyers, he had worked his way up from a holiday job at the Scarborough store while still a youngster.

Originally from Bradford, he was one of three boys who were the great great grandsons of William Boyes, who had started the business in 1881.

He studied environmental science at Bradford University and with a father who was a college lecturer and folk singer, and a grandfather in farming, a retail career was by no means a certainty.

But after those seaside shifts during holidays with his grandparents at Ravenscar, the seed was planted, and he moved eventually into management and then merchandising.

A keen cyclist and motorcyclist, he also maintained an interest in music that had begun as a choirboy, travelling the country to sing in churches and cathedrals.

A cystic fibrosis sufferer, he is survived by his wife, Laura, twins Charlie and Grace, and step-daughters Sophie and Lucie.