THE couple behind Hallmark Photography in Calne are celebrating a quarter of a century running a business in the market town.

Mr and Mrs Hall, who run Hallmark Photography in The Pippin, have battled through the economic downturn and are now planning a new frontage for their store.

Chamber of Commerce president Peter Vujakovic has paid tribute to the couple for their ability to embrace changes in the industry over the past 25 years.

Kevin Hall and his wife Jayne started the business from home in May 1990 before taking over the shop to do their own printing.

Mr Hall said: “It’s not been an easy ride over the last few years but it’s great to get to 25 years as a local business.

“Over the last two or three years we have had to re-establish ourselves back in the market, some products were not making money which we stopped.

“The people of Calne have come in and supported us through it. We’re now a one stop shop for anything with an image. Whether you’re looking for a portrait session, printing an image, we do business printing as well; we do a lot of things for an image."

In December 2012 the couple were looking to close the shop part of their enterprise due to falling sales, put down to an increase in online shopping, to allow them to concentrate on studio work.

Despite the economic downturn, the couple made adjustments to staffing and stock to pull themselves through the worst of the storm.

Mr Hall added: “We had to attract people back in again.

“It was a downturn in business as people were shopping online and not using high street stores. We have a lot of plans to carry on increasing the choice.

"I think people do try and support local business when they can. We have a good client base that supports us. We have not got that many empty shops. As long as people support the town we will continue.”

Mr Vujakovic said: “I think they’re a great example of a business that has had to change a number of times to keep up with what the market wants.

“Kevin and Jayne embrace new things and that’s probably why they have been around for so long.

“They’ve been very hard working so I’m really happy for them. It's a good example of a business in the town doing well in what have been hard times.”