My friend Ken Stradling, who has died aged 100, played a unique part in the history of British postwar design in Bristol and the south-west. His personal vision, business acumen and winning personality transformed a prewar shop run for craftspeople into the Bristol Guild – a small department store selling well-designed domestic products from kitchenware and toys to furniture and original crafts. Ken was managing director of the Guild from 1965 to 2006.
Born in Totterdown, south Bristol, Ken was the son of Grace (nee Counsell) and Arthur Stradling, a businessman. He attended Bristol grammar school, and was hugely influenced by his headmaster, JE Barton, who lectured on design for the BBC. The second world war changed everything for Ken: after his army service as an officer on the home front, initially working for the Forestry Commission, then in the Black Watch and the Royal Corps of Signals at Catterick, teaching and training, Ken realised he wanted a forward-looking career, in modern design. He persuaded the Bristol Guild, then a small shop, to employ him as assistant manager, in 1948.
