A BESPOKE tailor is set to close the doors of his shop in Leigh for the last time after almost 50 years in the business.

Arthur Aprile-Smith, whose expertise caught the eye of royalty, is retiring at the age of 70, leaving behind a string of loyal customers.

Aprile-Smith Bespoke Tailors, in London Road, established a solid reputation for top quality tailored suits over half a century, but its owner believes tailoring is a dying art.

Mr Aprile-Smith, whose handiwork was praised in 2009 when the Prince of Wales asked a south Essex businessman at a reception for the name of his tailor, said: “I am retiring because I feel it’s the right time for me to step down. I was supposed to retire last spring, but there was just too much work.

“There are no other bespoke tailors in the area. It’s definitely a dying craft. It’s not because of the lack of work, it’s the lack of skilled workmen out there. People just didn’t continue the apprenticeship because of poor pay. No one’s being taught. It’s five, six years’ learning and it becomes a lifetime’s work.”

Mr Aprile-Smith started his business in 1968 at the age of 21 when there were nine other bespoke tailors in the area.

At first, friends approached him to have suits made for work and their weddings. Then the orders piled up when word spread that Aprile-Smith Bespoke Tailors was the top shop in the area.

He said: “We had competition back then because people moved in from London after the war. It was tough because I was the new guy on the block.

“In those days there was no internet and I relied on word of mouth.”

Mr Aprile-Smith believes some tailors simply measure their customers and send off their suits to be altered in factories.

He added: “As the years went on the competition got less and less. There’s places around the town but they give people the wrong impression of what a bespoke tailor is.

“Two months ago a man wanted a Tweed suit for his wedding and he went to Southampton to get it tailored, but the suit didn’t fit. He rushed it down to me and I altered it for him.”

Mr Aprile-Smith learnt this craft when he was 15, working in his grandfather’s store, Smith and Reid in Hadleigh, under the guidance of his uncle.

The intricate craft takes requires a six-year apprenticeship and it can take up two months to complete a suit for a customer because of consultation work. At least two fittings are needed to ensure the client is satisfied with the suit.

Mr Aprile-Smith said: “It’s about making a man look really good in his suit. It’s about being creative. You do your best to make him look the best.”

Mr Aprile-Smith, who will close his store at the end of August, says tailors never stop learning as fashion and tastes evolve all the time. He added: “When there’s a James Bond film in the cinemas you get people coming in asking for a super suit.”