TUESD
AY
,
JUNE
24
,
2008
LEICES
TER
MER
CUR
Y
11
S
P
03
WO
MEN
IN
BUSINES
S
FA
SHION
being
a
notoriousl
y
fic
kle
and
transitory
bu
siness
,
man
yo
ther
local
boutiques
ha
ve
come
and
gone
,b
ut
Va
lentina,
the
ve
ntur
e
Diana
Le
wis
launc
hed
in
1983,
has
thri
ve
d
and
survi
ve
d
and
this
ye
ar
she
is
celebra
ting
her
25th
successful
ye
ar
in
bu
siness
in
L
e
i
c
e
s
t
e
r.
Italian
bor
n,
she
mar
ried
Leicester
bu
sinessman
Bry
an
Le
wis
,
and
be
ga
nt
o
fo
rm
ula
te
plans
fo
r
opening
a
boutique
of
her
ow
n
wh
en
her
ch
ildr
en
we
re
small.
She
explains:
8220A
n
Italian
cous
-
in
had
as
mall
shop
,
and
Iu
sed
to
bu
yf
ro
m
her
wh
ene
ve
r
Iw
ent
home
fo
rf
amil
y
we
ddings
and
so
on.
Bac
k
in
Leicester
,
people
wo
uld
admir
et
he
cl
othes
I
bought
and
want
to
kno
ww
her
e
I8217
d
fo
und
them.
8220Lea
ther
was
ve
ry
muc
hi
n
fa
shion
in
the
ear
ly
80s
.
Io
pened
Va
lentina
in
October
1983,
with
a
16328,000
loan
fr
om
the
bank,
and
be
ga
ns
toc
king
the
lea
ther
tr
ousers
and
jac
ke
ts
I
wo
re
my
-
s
e
l
f.
8220By
Christmas
they
we
re
best
sellers
,
with
lots
of
husbands
bu
ying
them
fo
rt
heir
wi
ve
s,
and
although
I8217
ve
had
ups
and
do
wns
along
the
wa
y,
I8217
ve
ne
ve
r
look
ed
bac
k.8221
She
la
ter
opened
boutiques
in
Nottingham
and
Pe
terbor
ough
(both
no
w
cl
osed),
and
mo
ve
d
to
her
pr
esent
shop
in
tha
t
ma
gnet
ar
ea
fo
r
discer
ning
shoppers
,
Allandale
Ro
ad,
Stoney
ga
te
,i
n
1989.
8220I
lo
ve
it
ther
e,
and
Ih
av
e
man
y
fa
ithful
and
ap
pr
ecia
ti
ve
customers
,
and
good
staf
f.
I
ha
ve
al
wa
ys
done
all
the
bu
ying
my
-
self
8211Il
ov
e
fa
shion
and
Il
ov
e
wo
rk
ing
with
people
,
and
I8217m
ve
ry
ha
pp
y.
8221
Survi
va
l,
she
re
ck
ons
,
has
al
-
wa
ys
been
a
question
of
har
d
wo
rk
8211f
or
her
tha
tm
eans
a1
6o
r
18-hour
da
y.She
ne
ve
r
tak
es
money
out
of
the
bu
siness
,
bu
t
pa
ys
fo
r
ev
erything
she
has
fr
om
the
shop
.
8220A
st
he
ow
ner
of
ab
usiness
,
yo
u
risk
ev
erything
yo
u
ha
ve
.
I
belie
ve
yo
um
ust
go
with
yo
ur
ow
n
instincts
,r
efuse
to
be
bu
l-
lied,
and
ne
ve
r,
ev
er
gi
ve
up:
it
is
tough,
par
ticular
ly
if
yo
u
ar
ea
wo
m
a
n
.
8220It
is
also
vital
to
tr
ea
t
people
fa
ir
ly
,a
polo
gise
if
yo
ua
re
in
the
wr
ong,
and
do
yo
ur
best
to
put
things
right.8221
As
ak
no
wledg
ea
bl
e
and
exper
-
ienced
fa
shion
bu
ye
r,
Diana
Le
wis
looks
fo
r
top
quality
fa
b-
ric
and
wo
rk
manship
.H
er
motto
is:
8220Quality
is
mor
e
im
-
por
tant
than
style
.8221
She
has
al
-
wa
ys
gone
fo
r
ex
cl
usi
vity
and
top
la
bels
,a
nd
was
the
first
boutique
in
Leicester
to
stoc
k
names
suc
ha
s
Ar
mani,
Mosc
hino
and
Ve
rsace
.
To
da
y
Va
lentina
car
ries
se
ve
r-
al
leading
Italian
and
other
Con
-
tinental
la
bels
8211a
mong
them
MaxMara,
Louis
Fe
raud,
Al
-
ber
ta
Fe
rr
etti,
Luis
Ci
vit
and
Cr
ea.
Diana
is
empha
tic
tha
t
she
does
not
bu
y
with
herself
in
mind.
8220I
kno
w
wh
at
my
customers
lik
e
and
Ih
av
e
al
wa
ys
bought
with
their
tastes
in
vie
w,
8221s
he
insists
,a
dding
tha
ts
he
trains
her
staf
f
to
be
fa
shion
consult
-
ants
ra
ther
than
salespeople
.
Th
us
,
she
ca
ters
fo
r
yo
ung
er
wo
men
as
we
ll
as
fo
r
the
mother
of
the
bride
,
stoc
king
smar
t
cas
-
uals
as
we
ll
as
ev
ening
we
ar
and
8220r
ed
car
pet8221
d
re
s
s
e
s.
She
also
of
fers
the
complete
shopping
experience
,
with
ha
ts
,
handba
gs
and,
of
course
,
shoes
,
wh
ic
h
ar
e
speciall
ym
ade
fo
r
her
in
Ital
y,
as
they
ha
ve
been
ev
er
since
she
launc
hed
the
bu
siness
a
quar
ter
of
ac
entury
a
go
.
As
par
t
of
her
cur
re
nt
ye
ar
of
of
fice
as
Pr
esident
of
Leicester
-
shir
e
Ladies8217
County
Bo
wling
Associa
tion,
Mrs
Le
wis
will
host
a
ga
rd
en
par
ty
at
her
home
on
Ju
ly
6,
with
musicians
and
a
marquee
,ab
ar
,
teas
and
ag
rand
To
mbola,
ah
ome-made
cak
e
stall,
plus
a
Bounc
yC
astle
fo
r
the
ch
ildr
en.
Pr
oceeds
will
go
to
the
Alzheimer8217
s
Society
,
a
ch
arity
she
is
par
ticular
ly
ke
en
to
sup
-
por
t
as
11
members
of
her
hus
-
band8217
sf
amil
y,
inc
luding
his
fa
ther
and
his
br
other
,
suf
fer
ed
fr
om
the
condition.
A
fe
w
tic
k-
ets
fo
r
the
Gar
den
Pa
rt
y
ar
e
still
av
aila
bl
e
fr
om
Va
lentina,
20
Al
-
landale
Ro
ad,
Leicester
,
tel:
0116
270
2555.
Th
e
Society
has
benefited
fr
om
as
eries
of
Priz
eD
ra
ws
wh
ic
h
she
ar
rang
ed
ear
lier
this
ye
ar
.
Eac
h
car
ried
a
first
priz
e
of
a
Va
lentina
vo
uc
her
fo
r
163500,
a
second
priz
e
vo
uc
her
fo
r163
350,
eac
h
va
lid
fo
r
one
ye
ar
,
and
a
thir
d
priz
eo
f
a
Po
rsc
he
car
fo
r
a
we
e
ke
n
d
.
A
fo
ur
th
Priz
eD
ra
w
will
tak
e
place
in
Se
ptember
,a
nd
tic
ke
ts
,
at
1633
eac
h,
will
be
av
aila
bl
e
fr
om
Va
lentina
fr
om
the
be
ginning
of
Au
g
u
s
t
.
8220I
decided
to
do
this
ra
ther
than
spend
money
on
a
celebra
-
tion
or
a
fa
shion
sho
w
to
mar
k
our
25th
anni
ve
rsary
,
and
I
am
ve
ry
gr
at
eful
to
ev
ery
one
wh
o
has
helped,
bought
tic
ke
ts
or
made
dona
tions
,8221
said
Mrs
Le
wis
,
wh
o
hopes
to
raise
1635,000
fo
r
the
Alzheimer8217
s
Society
.
Valentina
celebrates
25
successful
years
WHO
DA
RES
WINS:
Diana
Le
wis
wo
rks
long
hour
s,
is
pr
epar
ed
to
tak
e
risks,
follo
ws
her
ow
n
instincts
and
re
fuses
to
be
bullied.
She
also
has
a
ke
en
ey
e
for
busines
s
and
cutting-edge
fashion
ADVER
TISING
FEA
TUREExclusi
ve
Designer
Labels20
Allandale
Road,
Stone
ygate,
Leicester
.T
el:
0116
270
2555
GARDEN
PA
RTY
6TH
JUL
YI
NA
ID
OF
ALZHEIMER8217S
SOCIETY
Tickets
1633
each
from
VALENTINA(only
af
ew
left)
Bar,
To
mbola,
Live
Music,
Bouncy
Castle
&m
uch
more.
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