A tribute to a much-loved cafe owner was held outside his iconic industrial estate eatery yesterday.
Staff and customers at the Maylands Cafe stood and waved goodbye as Mick Sells’ funeral procession passed the business he had run for almost 40 years.
Mick died, aged 78, on May 24 after a short but brave battle with cancer. His daughter Karen Hamilton said: “We opened the cafe before his funeral as his motto was never let the public down and the show must always go on.
“He was a local man, born in Old Hemel in 1934 and he played football for Hemel Hempstead as a young lad. He did his apprenticeship with local man Henry Gale and qualified as an electrician and worked many years at Dixons in Maylands Avenue until he bought the cafe and he just loved working there.”
Regular customer Jimmy Docherty said: “I never use the other cafes around here because the service Mick provided couldn’t be faulted. He always had time for everyone. He would never see it shut, so that is why we’re here.”