County man engaging a supporter for the retired (8)
I believe the answer is:
bedstead
'supporter for the retired' is the definition.
(support for people who have retired to bed)
'county man engaging a' is the wordplay.
'county' becomes 'beds' (abbreviation for Bedfordshire).
'man' becomes 'ted' (Ted is a man's name).
'engaging' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'ted' placed around 'a' is 'tead'.
'beds'+'tead'='BEDSTEAD'
(Other definitions for bedstead that I've seen before include "Frame upon which a mattress sits" , "support for the retired" , "Frame for sleepers" , "Mattress support" , "Framework supporting springs and mattresses" .)