As the Duke of Edinburgh announces he is stepping down from official duties in the autumn, Business Argus asked local business people about their plans for retirement...

Gareth Jones, CEO, Welsh ICE, Caerphilly

I hope I never aspire to retire, I can’t see a time right now where I won’t be captivated by the challenges and opportunities all around us, and certainly don’t feel like there’s enough time right now for all of them. People should be allowed to work until they feel comfortable, our chairman only just resigned that role (but is staying on the board) at 75, but likewise people shouldn’t be forced to work beyond the point they feel comfortable. We all have a job to do to make Wales a better place for future generations, so long as work is rewarding and people are valued, I think this will always win out.

Kath Lewis, marketing and HR director, Industrial Automation and Control Ltd, Newport

I haven’t really thought about when I plan to retire, I enjoy the challenge and pace of my role and plan to keep doing it until the enjoyment factor waivers. As in most organisations, IAC doesn’t have a set retirement age, however we do operate a flexible/passed retirement model which allows staff the option to drop hours/days in the lead up to their retirement. We found this works well for the employee and the company as staff are able to ease into retirement finding other activities to occupy their time and for the business it allows the transition of skills. As and when I start to think about my retirement I suspect I’ll use the phased retirement but rather than taking a back seat, I love to be kept busy and suspect I’ll take on more volunteering type roles, particularly within scouting.