Mike Calder dies

Formerly a plasterer from Fulham, Mike took to diving retail like a duck to water, writes John Bantin.

He was a born salesman and, in the early 1980s, the London shop he managed for Trevor Smith, The Diving Locker, started to dominate the way divers in Britain bought their equipment.

When it was possible to move from Fulham Palace Road to more spacious premises in Chiswick High Road, it was Mike's idea to install a diving school, fully equipped with classroom and training pool on site. It was groundbreaking.

Trevor Smith later sold the business to Scubapro UK, the then-boss of which decided to dispense with Mike's services. The chirpy cockney salesman simply set up in competition down the road – and the customers followed him there.

Mike's skill was not only in selling but in buying well, and this enabled his business to become what was one of the most influential diving retailers of the decade.

He soon moved from his waterside warehouse in Richmond to larger premises in Power Road, Chiswick and his stock-buying skills were extended when he set up franchises throughout the UK of what had now become an unstoppable retail venture.

Mike was a larger-than-life character who was eternally optimistic and always had his finger on the pulse of Britain's retail diving business. He was remarkable in that he never turned away a possible sale.

All of us who had the benefit of his input to our purchasing of diving equipment at some time will have a story to tell along the lines of "I went in to buy some O-rings and came away with an £800 lamp!"

Mike Calder’s death, at the age of 61, leaves a hole in the British retail diving scene that will be difficult to fill.