A MUSIC shop will continue its usual groove after a loyal customer who fell in love with the business took over from the previous manager who had been running it for 30 years.

Mick Bishop, a customer of Market Hall Records in The Shambles Market Hall in Worcester city centre since it opened, has now come full circle and is running the business himself.

He officially took the helm on Wednesday, proof perhaps that music really is the food of love. Mr Bishop certainly believes his predecessor hit the right note with city customers.

The former construction site engineer, a lifelong music lover and record collector, had been a customer at the shop since it opened 30 years ago - but now he has taken on the music store after making a deal with the previous owner.

Mr Bishop, of Battenhall in Worcester,  said he was not going to change it much from when Nick Banks ran it as his love of the shop and the way it was set up was one of the reasons the venture appealed.

Malvern Gazette: FUTURE: Market Hall Records in The Shambles in Worcester has been taken on by Mick Bishop FUTURE: Market Hall Records in The Shambles in Worcester has been taken on by Mick Bishop (Image: James Connell/Newsquest)

Nick Banks, a Worcester resident for all of his life,  decided now was the right time to step down.

Mr Bishop said: "There's nothing too much I would change. I'm enjoying it so far. I've already met some interesting characters. I'm a record collector and I have always loved LPs and vinyl.

"I want to keep it going and I aim to keep it going as it has been. We have quite a lot of stock."

Malvern Gazette: MISSED: Nick Banks ran Market Hall Records for 30 years and his replacement things he certainly hit the right note with customers MISSED: Nick Banks ran Market Hall Records for 30 years and his replacement things he certainly hit the right note with customers (Image: Newsquest)

Mr Bishop said he worked in the former East Germany and came back with a Russian jeep and 1,000 LPs. The store also sells cassettes and CDs which can be available from £1 and up.

All genres of music are sold from rock and pop to jazz, folk and blues from as far back as the 1950s.

So, whether you like Meat Loaf or Manic Street Preachers, Bruce Springsteen or The Beatles, all musical tastes are catered for. The shop's landline number may be going but customers can still contact the shop by calling 07804944089 or 07961379307. 

Malvern Gazette: ATMOSPHERE: The Shambles Market Hall in Worcester ATMOSPHERE: The Shambles Market Hall in Worcester (Image: James Connell/Newsquest)

The store has a certain versatility with some customers preferring to trade rather than buy items for cash.

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Mr Bishop believes vinyl has a warmth and quality a CD cannot rival. Even when CDs became very popular in the 1990s, Mr Bishop 'always knew vinyl would come back'.

Malvern Gazette: CHOICE: There is a lot packed into Market Hall Records in The Shambles Market Hall in Worcester CHOICE: There is a lot packed into Market Hall Records in The Shambles Market Hall in Worcester (Image: James Connell/Newsquest)

Mr Bishop added: "I'm doing this for the love of it. If it was any other shop I probably would not have bothered. This shop has been going for 30 years and I have been coming here for all that time.

"I only used to go to the best shops - and this was one of them."

The store is open between 10.30am and 4.30pm on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays (and is closed on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays).