leaving the four at Seamer, Eastfield, Manham Hill and Scalby still in Proudfoot ownership. The company has a number of other commercial property and retail interests. In 2018 it employed 175 full and part-time staff, down from an earlier peak of 400 staff. The company has a headquarters and central distribution depot on the Eastfield Industrial Estate, outside Scarborough. In the year to 22 March 2018 the company achieved a net profit of £345,000 on a turnover of £16 million. The company remains under the control of the Proudfoot family, its core supplier is Nisa, the Co-operative Group owned distributor. Political career In 1950 Proudfoot became the youngest member of Scarborough Borough Council when he was elected as a councillor for the Conservative Party. He soon became a prominent local politician although his informal personal style did not always endear him to some people. He was once asked to leave the Scarborough Conservative Club when he entered it wearing jeans and a cardigan. Proudfoot stood unsuccessfully for Parliament in Hemsworth at the 1951 general election and in Cleveland at the 1955 election. He was successful on his third attempt, winning the Cleveland seat from the Labour MP Arthur Palmer at the 1959 general election. However, at the 1964 election, he was defeated by the Labour candidate James Tinn. Proudfoot contested the seat again at the 1966 general election, but lost by a much wider margin. At the 1970 general election, he stood in the marginal West Yorkshire constituency of Brighouse and Spenborough, where he ousted the sitting Labour MP Colin Jackson by a majority of only 59 votes. However, at the February 1974 general election, Jackson won back the seat. Proudfoot stood again at the October 1974 election, but lost again. Throughout his two terms in Parliament, Proudfoot was particularly vocal on matters relating to the retail sector. During his first term (1959 to 1964) he was an early advocate of decimal coinage and opposed the use of trading stamps. He supported capital punishment whenever that was debated. Proudfoot never held ministerial office although he served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Sir Keith Joseph (minister of housing and local government) between 1961 and 1963. During his second term (1970 to 1974) he was very vocal on the subject of commercial radio while legislation to allow it was being enacted. Fellow MPs gave him the nickname "Radio Proudfoot". The main thrust