Leonard Swindley Leonard Swindley was manager of the Rosamund Street branch of clothing retailer Gamma Garments from 1962 to 1965 , owned by Greek tycoon Niklos Papagopolous . Coming from a family of drapers , Swindley continued the proud tradition , operating with a firm belief that the customer is always right . Swindley was also chairman of the Mission committee and lay preacher for the Glad Tidings Mission Hall in Coronation Street from 1960 to 1965 , where he had frequent run - ins with caretaker Ena Sharples . His assistant both in the Mission and at Gamma was Emily Nugent , with whom he formed a close relationship which led to them becoming engaged to be married in 1964 . Emily jilted Swindley at the altar but they were able to salvage their friendship . 1965 saw a big change for Swindley as he took on a job as assistant manager at department store Dobson and Hawkes . In the following two years , he teetered on the brink of losing his job as his ineptitude at accomplishing the most simple of tasks , or perhaps just continual bad luck , put him at loggerheads with managers Ernest Parbold and later Wally Hunt . After being sacked from Dobson and Hawkes in 1966 , Swindley and Hunt travelled the country as professional speakers on the subject of Astrology . Biography . 1916 - 1960 : Early life . Leonard Swindley was born on 9th December 1916 , the son of Thomas and Eliza - Jane Swindley . The Swindleys were a family of drapers and Leonard was the third generation of the family to manage Swindley ' s Emporium , a drapers shop in Rosamund Street , Weatherfield . By Leonard ' s time in charge , the shop ' s best days were behind it and the clothes they sold were behind the times . Nevertheless , Swindley did his best to keep the shop going , introducing a credit scheme in 1961 as a last resort , but when the bank refused him a loan he had no choice but to sell to Niklos Papagopolous , owner of a successful chain of clothing shops in Manchester . Swindleys was re - opened as Gamma Garments in 1962 , with Swindley remaining manager but answering to Papagopolous . 1960 - 1965 : Glad Tidings and Gamma . A devout Christian , Swindley was chairman of the Mission committee in Weatherfield and in 1960 regularly delivered sermons in the Glad Tidings Mission Hall in Coronation Street . His assistant was the ever - reliable Emily Nugent , who was also his assistant at the shop . Aside from preaching , Swindley ' s duties at the Mission included organising community ventures , both within and outwith the Mission . Among these ventures were an Over 60s club and a coach trip to Blackpool to see the illuminations . By far Swindley ' s most difficult job was dealing with the Mission ' s caretaker and only full - time resident , Ena Sharples . It was Swindley ' s responsibility to take Ena ' s complaints and deliver any bad news to her on behalf of the committee , after which he would usually receive a tongue lashing from Ena in response . Although he tried to sack Ena in 1961 over the issue of her drinking at the Rovers Return Inn , he had to reinstate her as nobody else would take the position . Swindley had managed his own shop as best as he could , but strived to go one step further when working for Papagopolous at Gamma Garments . Emily and shop assistant Doreen Lostock were often bemused by Swindley ' s attempts to boost business as he actually knew very little about modern fashions . The fact that his store ' s takings were the lowest of any Gamma branch concerned him and he was always fearing a surprise visit from Papagopolous . After a fall in sales in 1963 , Swindley had to make Emily redundant but he was able to reinstate her . Later that year , he was promoted to Administration , although he quickly returned to running the shop as he didn ' t enjoy the senior position . Swindley ' s other ventures included a membership at the Progressing Property Owners and Small Traders Party ( PPOP ) . In 1962 , Swindley was shortlisted as a candidate to represent the party at the Council elections , despite the fact that he stood no chance of winning . When his opponent failed to turn up for the crucial election meeting , Swindley was voted candidate and reluctantly threw himself into the campaign . He was not surprised when he lost by a wide margin , gaining only 405 votes . In 1964 , Swindley fought Laurie Frazer ' s plan to open a nightclub in the basement of Elliston ' s Raincoat Factory . He clashed with Emily when she processed an order for velvet curtains for Laurie when he was preparing the club , even though she knew Swindley would not want to do business with him . After confronting Emily about it and shouting at her , Swindley had a breakdown , requiring his sister Hilda Barrett to visit and take care of him . During his ensuing absence , Stuart Hodges took over his Mission duties . After hearing about Martha Longhurst ' s death , Swindley returned to the Street , fit as a fiddle . Since establishing a working relationship with Emily , Swindley had grown closer to her , although they were still very formal with each other . In 1961 , Swindley was shocked when Emily ' s father James Nugent spoke to him about his intentions towards Emily when they weren ' t even dating . The following year , Swindley was jealous when Emily dated Edwin , not that he admitted it . By 1964 , shy Emily was starting to worry that she would never marry or have children and proposed to Swindley during a romantic meal . After some hesitation , Swindley accepted , and the date was soon set for 18th July . On their wedding day , Emily had a change of heart and refused to go through with the service , deciding that it was for the best as neither of them loved each other ( they did not even call each other by their first names ) . Swindley understood Emily ' s decision and assured her she had spoken for him too , but he hadn ' t the courage to back out . Fortunately , they managed to save their friendship and continued to work together at Gamma . In 1965 , Swindley was promoted to Area Manager of Gamma Garments and Emily took over the running of the shop . He continued to visit the area to give Emily driving lessons , but on one lesson the car was stopped as Emily was driving the wrong way down a one - way street , and Swindley was fined as his licence had expired . Later that year , Swindley made a heartfelt decision to give up his position at the Mission , cutting his last remaining ties with Coronation Street . 1965 - 1966 : Dobson and Hawkes . In June 1965 , Swindley started work as Assistant Manager at a branch of department store Dobson and Hawkes . It was a step up from his position with Gamma Garments but Swindley quickly discovered the lesser side to his new position as Manager Ernest Parbold would often delegate difficult tasks onto him , and let Swindley take the blame when they inevitably went wrong . Swindley ' s job was also made worse by his own tendency to misinterpret his boss ' s instructions , such as when he hired catwalk models instead of plastic dummies to show off a new range of clothes in February 1966 . Fortunately , Swindley was a hit with the staff , who were used to a revolving door of Assistant Manager and conspired to do their best to cover up his mistakes so he could keep his job . He got on especially well with blonde Scot Miss Sinclair and canteen manageress Mrs Edgeley , who helped smooth his relationship with Mr Parbold and later Wally Hunt , who took over management of the store in 1966 . Hunt quickly became wary of Swindley ' s incompetence and rarely gave him the benefit of the doubt when it came to handling responsibility . Even so , Swindley and Hunt usually ended up both facing the chop for either one ' s mistakes and in June 1966 they were sacked together when they were inadvertently responsible for the chairman of Dobson and Hawkes , Lord Penge , being sued for £15 , 000 . 1967 - 1980 : Investigating the paranormal . After losing his job at Dobson and Hawkes , Swindley got a new job as a professional speaker on the subject of astrology , spurred on by Hunt ' s interest in the subject . Unlikely partners Swindley and Hunt travelled across the country investigating supernatural mysteries . By 1980 , Swindley was still alive , and had sent a telegram to Emily ' s second wedding to Arnold . His current whereabouts or lifestyle was unknown at that point , and what happened to Swindley after that is uncertain . Personality . Well - spoken and articulate , with careful thought put into the words and phrases he used to put his points across , Leonard Swindley could often appear pompous , especially to the residents of Coronation Street who were not as polite or as formal as he was . Even when things weren ' t going his way , he retained a composure and manner of calm , maintaining the dignity of a nobleman , rarely expressing any emotion in the extreme ( and some not at all ) . As such , he found it difficult to unwind and socialising was difficult , and meeting women even more so . One of Swindley ' s key attributes was his honesty . He was too principled to lie , and this led him to have a somewhat naive view of his fellow countrymen as he did not understand people who were more carefree than him , tending to take most people ' s comments at face value . His old - fashioned views on life and fashions did his job no favours . Quotes . " Good evening Mrs Sharples . Oooh . . . " ( First line , greeting Ena Sharples and then noticing that Martha Longhurst is also in the room )