FRANK Kerr, a 64-year-old bookmaker from Glasgow, knows what women want.

The owner of Miss Diva boutique, in Low Petergate, has trained an eye for fashion over his 40-year career in retail, at the races, on the high street and major fashion shows, and can tell a woman’s size just by looking.

His first sale – to his grandfather, to whom he sold a shirt for 70p that he had bought for 50p – led him to own market stalls, then shops before he was contracted by high-street chain Quiz, which also started in Glasgow and now has 140 stores across the world.

Frank tidied up Quiz stores around the UK, visiting each shop in turn to improve the look of its stores and oversee merchandising.

After 14 years, driving 1,000 miles a week took its toll and Frank decided to move to York after visiting his brother in Selby.

He initially set up Miss Posh, which was based opposite his current shop, where Pandora is now, for one and a half years, before opening Miss Diva. “I thought I could make money in York,” he said.

And two and a half years after opening Miss Diva, he has the formula correct, he said. Next he hopes to open a designer store on Stonegate, selling items at a lower margin, keeping them under £70 to appeal to impulse buyers.

After investing in the physical appearance of Miss Diva and painting the shop front with staff at 10pm at night after it had closed, Frank also refocused the business on catering for the women aged over 35.

He said the high street generally caters for skinny young women, but “British ladies have a curve and they’re bigger on top”.

His clothes all feature “a little bit of sparkle to make a woman look and feel a million dollars”.

He said: “People are living longer now and you can still look good. You don’t have to dress in what others think people your age should wear.”

Since refocusing the business, the shop now attracts young women particularly interested in its upstairs reduced mix of the last two years’ fashion, and women of all ages up to 94.

The shop has turned over £250,000 in the last year, he said, and is also popular with tourists, especially Norwegians and Americans, including one woman who spent £2,000 on clothes to sell in her own boutique in California, and Australians and New Zealanders buying last season’s reduced winter woollies.

Frank scours the fashion shows, then buys quality cloth from New York to send to China for manufacturing, adding a bit of sparkle on the way. He stocks only six of each garment in the shop, making room for greater choice, and buys monthly to react quickly to trends or weather conditions.

The flexibility of a single boutique means he can give old-fashioned customer service, offering free items to customers that spend a certain amount, or a free glass of wine at a local independent restaurant to help neighbouring businesses.

With more than seven years left on his lease, Frank said he has no plans to retire.

“Every moment’s a new day. I work every day and haven’t had a holiday in two years. I feel like I’m on holiday here,” he said.