From a crackly recording of Boro's first match at Ayresome Park to a successful photography business - Graham Rose's story is certainly a colourful one. Here, he opens his old business diaries for the first in an occasional Gazette series.

THE story begins in 1989. I was working at Atrium Antiques on a YTS scheme when the story about the recording of the Boro game was reported in the Gazette.

While at the antiques shop aged 17, I got to know a local interior designer because of the story in the Gazette, who introduced me to a woman who turned out to be the agent for Spike Milligan and Eric Sykes.

She was looking to open some gifts shops in this area.

By this time I had been away in Wales on a course to learn how to restore oil paintings by a London restorer who had worked for Harrods.

I had also picked up the skill of picture framing.

The lady opened a shop in Guisborough called The Honourable Merchant, she invested in some framing equipment and .

Two years later I moved out of this environment, after getting a Princes Trust grant, which I used to buy my own framing equipment and car.

After running this small venture for a few years, my girlfriend and I decided to get engaged, so I had to get a ‘proper’ job.

I worked with a national in-store photography company, working in Children’s World, and Boots around this area taking children’s portrait photographs.

After a few years I was promoted to a field manager and six months later, I was offered an area manager’s job for one of the competitive company.

In 1999, I set up Rosie Pictures, an in-store photography company taking children’s portraits.

I secured a Bonny Baby competition with the Evening Gazette, which was so successful I was able to use the money and publicity to secure a contract with Marks & Spencers and Poundstretchers, then over the next few years the business grew steadily and I started to photograph in local day nurseries and playgroups.

In 2004 after working closely with another local photographer, we amalgamated the two companies, and created a larger, limited company called Impressions Child Photography, which gave us to ability to develop and grow, and became well know all over the North-east, mainly along the east coast, York and Hambleton district area.

With hard work, the company had grown and photographed in over 100 Children’s Day Nurseries, and 40 primary schools.

We then purchased an office and studio in Saltburn, where we employed an office manager to look after the day to day running of our business, which gave us the room to grow again.

In April 2010 we decided to separate the company and Rose & Sons was born.

I couldn’t call it Rosie Pictures again as my dad didn’t like the name.

A year later, with the complete purchase of the office and studio I find myself with a business that has started to grow again - this business will never die, as the population are always having babies.

It feels as though I owe a lot to the Evening Gazette.

As a company we are now wanting to develop and expand from our Saltburn base.

I have created a cartoon character called Rosey which I am looking to try and turn into a kids’ story book, and we are looking to expand the day nurseries, playgroups and schools photography in our local area.