FOR some people business is the thing, and which branch they tackle is irrelevant. Others are drawn to a calling and can happily spend a lifetime pursuing it.

Mal (short for Malvin) Salter is one of the latter. Growing up in Cwmbran he bred rabbits and birds and was fascinated by the fish he caught at the local angling club.

A job at the town's pet shop had his name written all over it and he worked there happily for about 18 years.

Three years ago Mal and wife Geraldine decided to go it alone and open their own place.

"We started in Hereford because we thought the town really needed a pet shop."

It didn't prove the best introduction to business for some unexpected reasons.

"Hereford has a big drugs problem and we lost thousands through junkies stealing from the shop.

"Then somebody set fire to the rear of the premises and it burned down half the shop.

"By that time we had set up a second shop on Commercial Street in Newport, so we decided to pull out of Hereford and concentrate on that."

Mal and Geraldine now have three Pet Centre shops, at Newport, Pontnewydd and, since August, Victoria Street in Old Cwmbran.

I met him at the latter store and it was a revelation to see how far pet shops have moved on since I was a boy.

Mal keeps a wide selection of fish, birds and animals, including parrots and cotton-eared marmosets.

It is like being on the set of Animal Magic and I felt the urge to make Johnny Morris-style animal voices.

"All our stock is bred in this country and some of it has been rescued from bad homes. "The male marmoset here is from Bristol. He was kept in guinea-pig cage for three years.

"He's a brilliant character and if we hadn't introduced a female we could get him out and handle him.

"But in marmoset society the woman is boss and protector: she would become aggressive if we tried to take him away."

A young Electus parrot is another rescued bird. It had been mistakenly paired with his sister.

"A brother and sister can't breed and the birds had to be separated. He's been pining and he's plucked all his feathers out. The good news is that we've found him a mate who has also lost a partner and we hope to introduce them shortly."

Lucy-Lu, a one-year-old African grey, keeps a beady eye on everyone in the shop.

She's happy to jump on your outstretched hand and shuffle along your arm for a shoulder-based vantage point.

Rescued animals are something Mal is familiar with as he has spent many years working for the South Wales division of Swan Rescue.

"People shoot swans for fun or set their dogs on them.

"And the birds can get into trouble by themselves by flying into power cables or traffic, or becoming tangled in fishing line.

"We rescue them and drive them to sanctuaries at Egham in Surrey, or Evesham in Worcestershire. Mal is hoping that Swan Rescue can open a sanctuary in Cwmbran.

"It would be the first one in Wales and it would be open to the public.

"We've found a suitable site which is 4.5 acres and has its own wetland.

"We've made a number of applications for permissions and funding but I don't want to say any more about it until we're confident it's going ahead." But surely his interest in angling and swans is a contradiction?

"I've been the conservation officer for Cwmbran Angling Association for the last 13 years.

"When I started the job we signed a charter between ourselves and Swan Rescue to work together.

That charter has now been copied by clubs up and down the country."

Mal has never sold reptiles because he believes people just don't have the skills to look after them properly.

"You can explain everything but it's usually not enough.

"Reptiles need so much animal husbandry it's unbelievable. But we do sell feed for them."

Mal's transition from being a manager to an entrepreneur was eased by finding a really good adviser. " Ryan Redmond, an accountant at Troubleshooters in Pontypool, has steered us in the right direction. He's been fantastic and we wouldn't be where we are today without him."

Mal's formula for his shops is an old-fashioned one: quality of service.

"All our staff are trained from day one and study for professional NVQs.

"Jasmine here is already working on her NVQ level 3 and Stevie Probert at our Newport shop has recorded fantastic scores in her assessments.

"We also offer experience programmes with local schools and colleges but I don't believe in giving experience in return for some kind of slave labour.

"The training means that when somebody comes into the shop I want my staff to be able to explain everything about the pet they're buying or about the food or veterinary products they need."

I wondered if he was worried about an out-of-town pet superstore opening up and blowing his business away.

"There's one just down the road. But I'm not worried about that any more because I've realised that the big operators just can't offer the same level of service traditional operators can.

"Imagine you were looking for something such as gluten-free dog food, you could be walking up and down the aisles for hours.

"Here we'd find it for you and make sure you're buying the best product for your dog."

Mal said that opening the Cwmbran shop was his best achievement to date.

"This is where I come from and we had lots of welcome cards through the door wishing us good luck.

"I like the shop because it has so much space, it goes back miles and we've got upstairs, too.

"We applied for it 18 months ago but just missed out.

"But then the business that got it went into liquidation so we're in here at last."