When Jacqueline Duncan started the Inchbald School of Design 47 years ago, the shadows cast by the Second World War were still receding. Her husband then, Michael Inchbald, had his architectural training interrupted by the war, and on returning decided to concentrate on interior design. In the late Forties and early Fifties, this was almost unheard of.

Jacqueline (on the right of the main picture) says: “Michael used to put on the most marvellous shows at Peter Jones department store in London. I was 17 when I saw one. The exhibition took up a floor and showed genius: it had black Chinese lacquer furniture and bright pink fabrics, and beautiful antiques, bought for nothing in those days.

“I later met Michael socially and ran his design studio. But he could not get much work: people were mending bombed buildings, not hiring decorators.”

However, the couple went on to run a successful interior design practice — one commission was the QE2 — and on the back of this, Jacqueline launched the Inchbald School of Design in 1960. “It was the first of its kind outside America,” she says. “The week before I started I had one student and nearly didn’t open, but, fortunately, seven more applied. We taught curtain-making on three loaned sewing machines. The following September, I had 40 students. The media helped. I hired a PR, which was considered amazing at that time, and we got a lot of publicity. I have also always hired very good lecturers.”

But the Inchbalds divorced, and Jacqueline, who had two young children, recalls: “It was hard being a woman on your own. In those days, you couldn’t get a mortgage without a husband and banks looked at you astounded if you asked for a loan. I was saved by a complete stranger — a man trying to sell me insurance, who arranged a private mortgage for me.”

The Inchbald School of Design, whose alumni include Henrietta Spencer-Churchill, was followed by the Inchbald School of Fine Arts in 1970 and the Garden Design School in 1972. All were groundbreakers: the School of Fine Arts, now no longer in being, was set up to address projects such as the reinstatement of National Trust buildings. The Garden Design School was the first in the world to focus entirely on gardens; many graduates have won gold medals at Chelsea.

Today, there are 20 staff, a huge pool of lecturers and 85 students in the schools in London, while an online course has also started. At 76, Jacqueline works full-time, living weekdays in London and at the weekend in Dorset. “I’d like to go on until I’m 80,” she says, and indeed, it is hard to think of her retiring. As well as spending almost 50 years running her schools, she has been a magistrate, served on Westminster City Council, was the first woman member on the Monopolies and Mergers Commission (now the Competition Commission) and written books.

Not surprisingly, she looks for a work ethic in her own staff and recruited her PA, Charlotte Barnes, from an agency for the over-40s: “There is a lot of emphasis now on computer skills, but older people have discipline and education. Charlotte was rather diffident at interview but she seemed nice and sensible. It took quite a long time before I heard her giggle.” Charlotte, now 60, has always worked as a PA, apart from 15 years when she was involved with the direct marketing industry and compliance with the Advertising Standards Codes of Practice. When the department she worked in for her last employer closed, she went to Forties People.

“I was 55 and thinking I’d never work again, but this came up and I liked the idea of working in interior design. I’d had textile training and taught creative textiles at evening class, and there are artists in my family.

“At the time, the age discrimination laws had not come in, but I think people still discriminate anyway. It is a shame: at my age, you have intuitive skills and anticipation.

“My work revolves around Mrs Duncan — I never call her by her first name — and includes her personal and professional life. I never know what I will be doing from one day to the next.

“Although I address her formally, she is quite a relaxed person with a wicked sense of humour. She is fair, patient and understanding, and immensely knowledgeable.”

www.inchbald.co.uk

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