A former supervisor of Barnsley's HMV store is realising a lifelong dream by setting up his own record shop.

 

Stuart Sheard, 29, of Bretton Road, Darton, was made redundant from HMV when it closed in March. He is using his redundancy money to help fund his new business, Debut Records, which will be in The Arcade in the town centre.

 

He said: "I have always wanted to do this since I was a kid,  just like I always wanted to work in HMV - which I did for five years.

 

"I loved working there and wanted to carry on something similar. I chose the name 'Debut' as it rolls off the tongue like other famous record store names such as Jumbo or Crash."

 

Stuart, originally from New Lodge, said increasing numbers of bands were now putting out material on vinyl, a format that is gaining ground again.

 

"The idea is that I will have a small shop selling vinyl, DVDs and some clothing. I will be trying to appeal to a niche market," he said.

 

Stuart, who is also a DJ at Rotherham bar Tryst, plans to open his shop at the beginning of July and will be preparing stock and decorating up to then.

 

He likes all kinds of music from rock to indie and metal but tends to play R&B when dee-jaying.

 

He paid tribute to the famed 1980s record store Casa Disco, fondly remembered by many Barnsley music fans.

 

"They had a collage of album covers on the wall in Casa Disco and I may go for something like that," he added.