UK IMPORTS

UK Imports was established by the Darbyshire family in 1984. Russell Darbyshire was born in 1930 in Liverpool, England. He enlisted in the Irish Guards in the British Army, where he served for 3 years. He then began working for Unilever selling Lifebuoy soaps. Russ then went into farming - eventually managing 4 farms that tended Mushroom, Turkey and Jersey cattle. In 1959, Russ was offered a job in Chicago with the Swartz Paper Company, managing a printing company that used English made printing presses. In 1979, Russ and his wife, Brenda, (pictured left) moved to Florida with their daughter, Anne, and their son, Michael, and purchased an egg processing farm. Russ decided to get back to his English roots so he sold the farm in 1981 and opened a British Shoppe and Tearoom in Winter Park, Florida. This truly was a family venture as they were all involved in running the Shoppe until it was sold in 1984.