After 55 years in motor retail John Marson still has the desire to come to work.

The head of Fiat dealer BS Marson & Sons in Newcastle Under Lyme, Staffordshire, marked his 70th birthday recently with a small reception at the dealership.

"I get so much satisfaction from dealing with and helping customers and staff. It has been that way for me as man and boy since I joined the business when I was 15 years old and I still have that drive today," he told local newspaper The Sentinel.

He still has a customer to whom he first sold a vehicle in 1959.

The family business was set up by his father, Stanley, and uncle, Jervis. When he joined in 1959 it represented Renault and Singer, but now it holds the Fiat franchise and is a Kia authorised repairer. His son, Andrew, is the third generation of the family working in the business.

"It is not unusual for customers to come in and say that their parents or even grandparents bought cars off us years ago and say that we always looked after them. I take a huge amount of pride from that and you just cannot buy that kind of reputation. I think that people around here are loyal if you treat them fairly in the deal and look after them properly.''

"I invest more in my staff than my premises. I cannot physically be here all the time but I am so lucky to be supported by loyal, good staff, many of whom have been with us for years and some of them have been with us literally all their working lives."