As a 15 year old schoolboy in the ‘60s, Mike Winch, founder and managing director of Candlelight, was already playing five nights a week in a band called The Origators Creed, topping the bill by the time he was 16. “Joe Cocker were second on the bill to us!” he recalls. “It’s my claim to fame, along with the fact we played many gigs where we supported the Cream, Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood, Pink Floyd and Wilson Pickett.”
Now, some 50 years on, Mike’s back on the road again with a new rock band the Road Runner, which features family members – some seriously good 17-year-old guitarists – as well as Mike’s tennis partner.
“We’re already taken bookings for three gigs,” Mike told GiftsandHome.net.
Mike – who started Candlelight from a barn in Rotherham with a £20 investment during the miner’s strike in 1972 – has seen the business grow to become a leading major global designer, importer and wholesale supplier of design-led giftware, home accessories and seasonal products, supplying retail outlets across the board – Blue Chips, multiples, independents, department stores, garden centres, fashion outlets – on both a UK and global stage.
The company has proudly remained in Rotherham, and now trades from 145,000 sq ft landmark premises, with a turnover of over £30m.
Top: Mike Winch, founder and managing director of Candlelight, is back on the road with a new band, Road Runner.
