Dudley Taylor served an apprenticeship with Boots from 1934 to 1940 in Truro, Cornwall. Following service in the Royal Air Force during the second world war, he purchased a small pharmacy in Brentford, London in 1947 which he sold a year later. He then purchased a pharmacy in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, which traded under his name; Dudley Taylor (Kenilworth). This company was incorporated as a limited company in 1984. From 1960 Dudley and his family embarked upon a program of pharmacy acquisitions, Windridge pharmacy, Knowle and W R Nicholas Ltd in Redruth were followed by pharmacies in Hayle and Penzance, Bilton, Southam, and Shrewsbury were aquired by his sons Christopher and Michael. The family chain thus continued with steady growth of both new and acquired pharmacies in Cornwall, Somerset, Dorset, Wales, the Midlands, Northamptonshire and Derbyshire with another in Essex. In November 2000, about 80 shops were sold to Moss pharmacy, now Alliance Boots, as part of a restructuring plan leaving a core of about 25 pharmacies in the Midlands and Wales. A further program of expansion has followed to the present number of 50 pharmacies. Dudley Taylor pharmacies remain committed to providing high quality pharmacy services to local communities and to this end entrust their pharmacist managers with a high level of independence to ensure that local needs are met.