Addiscombe Dry Cleaners was established in 1974 and I, Nicos Michael (Nick) have owned and personally run the business with the help of my wife Vasoulla (Val) since 1984. I do the shoe repairs on the premises and help with the cleaning and serving on the counter. My wife does all the tailoring work and also helps on the counter. Our presser is particularly experienced at hand pressing silks, bridal wear evening wear and linens. In the early 70’s I studied Textile Design and Technology in Derby College of Art and Technology and passed the Textile Institute exams to become an Associate member of the Textile Institute allowing me to use the letters Ctex ATI after my name. I spend the initial part of my working life as the design and production manager of a knitwear manufacturing company, first in London and then when the company relocated to Hawick, Scotland we moved with them. Having lived in Hawick for fifteen months we found the monthly trek back to London to see the family both expensive and tiring so I found similar employment with a different company in London and we moved back.

Val attended the London School of Fashion part time whilst working for a dress manufacturer, designing and making expensive evening gowns. Later when we got married she worked from home whilst bringing up our two daughters. When we moved to Hawick the girls went to full time nursery and my wife came to work for the same company as myself, managing the garment making department.

With the onset of cheap imports from the Far East, the knitwear manufacturing industry suffered badly in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Val and my self looked around for something different to do. With our backgrounds in textiles and clothing Dry Cleaning was an obvious choice. We bought Addiscombe Dry Cleaners as a going concern from a gentleman called Ossie who had established the shop from scratch ten years earlier and we never looked back. We enjoy living and working in Addiscombe, we love the community spirit, and considering the diverse backgrounds of its residents Addiscombe still has the ‘village community’ feel.