William Fisher, known as Bill, was born in Grantham in 1930. He was educated at the Kings School, Grantham, before carrying out his National Service from 1948 for 14 months at Melton Mowbray in the Royal Army Veterinary Corps. He entered the textile industry after National Service and from 1950 undertook a three year course in cotton textile manufacturing at Nottingham Technical College, on an educational release scheme. On qualifying, he joined the Shirley Institute British Cotton Industry Research Association in Didsbury, Manchester. From 1953 to 1954, he was part of the Technical Department, working on the special cases team. While working at the BCIRA, he became an Associate of the Technical Institute. In 1955, Bill joined the Technical Department at Kirklees Ltd Rayon Manufacturing, in Bury, Lancashire, where he responded to customer complaints. Bill moved to Bradford, Yorkshire, in 1962 where he worked for a company specialising in weaving and yarn processing. He dealt with technical issues. He remained with this company for five year, before setting up his own business as a textile agent in 1967. He retired from his company in 2009.