Wilfred Proudfoot
| Wilf Proudfoot MP | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament | |
| Constituency | Cleveland (1959-1964), then Brighouse and Spenborough (1970-1974) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 19 December 1921 Crook, County Durham |
| Died | 19 July 2013 (aged 91) Scarborough, North Yorkshire |
| Political party | Conservative Party (UK) |
| Occupation | Grocer, Businessman, Hypnotist |
George Wilfred Proudfoot (19 December 1921 – 19 July 2013) was a British Conservative Party politician and former Member of Parliament (MP). He was also a prominent North Yorkshire businessman, well known for his ownership of the Proudfoot supermarket chain and Radio 270. In later life he embarked on a new career as a hypnotist and hypnotherapist. He died in 2013.
Proudfoot was born in Crook, County Durham where his father was manager of the local Broughs grocery shop. Broughs was a family-owned grocery chain serving Northern England. It was a British pioneer of the self-service model whereby customers took goods from open shelves and paid for them at a check-out desk rather than being served at a counter. Proudfoot (senior) held a temporary commission and had won the Military Cross while serving in the British army during the First World War. The older Proudfoot had political ambitions but these were restrained by Broughs who refused to allow him to stand as a Conservative candidate in local council elections.
In his early years, Proudfoot helped his father in the shop by performing tasks such as filling blue bags with sugar. During the 1930s unemployment in Crook approached 40% and Proudfoot became familiar with the problems of retailing in a poor community. He was educated at a local council primary school but failed the 11-plus examination in spite of sitting it one year late after being “held back” a year. Subsequently, at age 14, he was sent to stay with two maiden aunts who ran a boarding house in Scarborough where he attended Scarborough College, an independent school. After gaining the school certificate Proudfoot joined a Durham accounting practice as a trainee.
In 1940 Proudfoot was conscripted into the Royal Air Force (RAF). After a mixed career in the RAF, Proudfoot became an NCO and served in the education branch where he was responsible for providing basic instruction in English, mathematics and technical skills to new recruits, many of whom came from an educationally disadvantaged background. As a Training Instructor he “… taught hundreds of conscripts stuff they weren’t really bothered about. He took it as a challenge to interest them and keep them entertained – an achievement he still remembers with pride” - from the Proudfoot School of Hypnosis website.
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