Bryan Pearson, together with his wife Jackie and business partner Ivan Emeny opened the doors of Sundown Guitars in Market Place for the first time on Friday.

Mr Pearson met Mr Emeny, who is a guitar tutor and runs his own full time business, Guitar Medic, after asking him for guitar lessons.

They discussed setting up a guitar shop and opened their first store in Denham in April.

“It fulfils a lifetime’s ambition and from a business point of view, guitar sales have been huge, even though it has levelled off now,” said Mr Pearson.

“Ivan is the main driving force behind it; he’s the guitar technician and has been involved with guitars all his life.”

Mr Pearson also runs his own digital printing company full time, meaning there is only time to open the store on Fridays and Saturdays.

He said despite the economic slowdown, there was a good market for guitars: “Everybody is a potential customer from ages five to 90. Nine tenths of musicians play guitar, and something like one third of males own a guitar.

“Despite the plateau in sales, there has always been a strong musical tradition in East Anglia and there’s a shortage of musical shops – particularly with guitars.

“That is proving to be the case – it was amazing to see the delight on people’s faces when we opened.”

The shop is beneath Candies and focuses on guitar sales, amps, accessories as well as repairs, set ups and other work.

WebWatch: www.sundownguitars.co.uk