Published: Monday, 19th January, 2009 4:17pm

Positive picture painted as family business expands

by Judith Green

Comments (0) | Print | Email

In the frame: Mark Lawrence and wife Debbie outside the newly-opened Bracknell Framing shop in Wildridings Square.

ONE couple is putting everyone in the picture about their booming business.

Despite all the doom and gloom stories of retailers being forced to close, business is on the up for Bracknell photographer Mark Lawrence.

Mr Lawrence and his wife Debbie are now expanding their photographic studio in Wildridings Square to include a new framing shop.

Mr Lawrence, 51, first took up photography after being made redundant from a Belgian marketing company.

He said: "Photography was something I had always wanted to do, but when I was made redundant I decided to do something about it. I've been here for about 10 years and business is booming."

In 2006, Mr Lawrence was named Bracknell's master photographer of the year and since then his reputation has landed him wedding jobs across the world.

He added: "I get to travel the world with my job, I've got wedding jobs booked this year in the Greek Islands and Ibiza. Most of my work comes by word of mouth and people remember me from other weddings that I've done. Debbie works with me all the time, she is involved with the business side of things, I think you definitely need someone like that on hand to help. She is also a fully trained make up artist and attends most of my jobs with me, we are a real team."

The future certainly looks bright for the couple as they embark on their latest business venture with Bracknell Framing and the pair are looking forward to the future.

Mr Lawrence added: "Bracknell has been very good to me, I still think of it as a small town with a thriving business community."

"Obviously over the years there have been changes but I'm really lucky that I have an established client base and have a really good relationship with the borough council who have supported me every step of the way, as have a lot of the contacts I have made over the years. I'm looking forward to the future."

Visit www.bracknellframing.co.uk or visit Mr Lawrence in his shop at Wildridings Square, Bracknell.