My name is Chalky (Richard White) & my company was established on September 1st 1987. The name Chalky was pretty much passed down by my Grandad to my father to me. Both my Grandad & my Dad were in the forces where most people with the surname “White” were nicknamed Chalky.

I started in the music industry at the age of 16 (1981) shortly after leaving school by working in an awesome local record shop called Music Market. Music Market was a fantastic company to work for & the bosses were fantastic people to work with. This company were pioneers in giving the customer the best service, the best choice & the best value & would have no qualms as to where to source the product if it meant they could pass on even bigger discounts to the customer.

In 1983, I was diagnosed with Leukaemia & had to have a lot of time off work, at the time I was more worried about losing my much loved job than anything else that may happen to me, so I went to the office of the owner ( a great guy called Ian Howard) & explained the situation to him. Ian listened intently then calmly responded by telling me that I could have as much time off as I needed & my job would still be there for me when I returned, fit & well. Needless to say, Ian was & still is an inspiration to me.