Alan, Chris’s dad, is still very much involved – in fact he’s in the office every day.
“He thinks we’re crazy because we only want to work six days a week,” said Mr Black.
“But it’s his toy shop now. He tinkers, he designs, he’s still inventing, still involved heavily with every machine that goes out of the factory.
“He loves to get involved with things and it’s always trying to improve things, so he never sits still. He never stops trying to make it sound better or work better. All his life is devoted to this industry.”
Chris’ son Alexander, 24, works on the digital marketing, and brother Michael, 50, is also a director in the company.
“Within the business, we’ve got a range of other families,” he said.
“We have brothers, sisters, aunties, uncles, mums, dads, all working alongside each other in different sections of the business. We are really, truly what you would call a family business because it’s not just ours and we all class each other really as a family.”
The company still displays its first machine at the factory, where it sits in reception playing Mr Black’s favourite track.
He said: “It can play anything you want, but Blueberry Hill’s my favourite, by Fats Domino.
“It always sounds really good on a jukebox because a jukebox sound is completely different to a hi-fi.
“If you get the old 50s records on the jukebox, they just sound absolutely stunning.”
