IT pays to be in business where you can sometimes take advantage of your neighbours, even if they do work at the local recycling yard. NIGEL JARRETT joins a man who mixes art with craft.

STUART Boydell could conceivably be in a better place for making money. The High Street at Black-wood, for example, rather than in a factory unit at the Penmaen Business Centre in nearby Pontllanfraith.

But he had already done a stint in Blackwood's main street, working part-time at a picture-framing and art materials shop which he later bought.

That was after he had trained as a architect's draughtsman and taken a degree in building and surveying at the University of Glamorgan.

Itching to return in some way to the art work he had been interested in since a boy, 30-year-old Mr Boydell also wanted to start a business.

When the shop, JOCAR, came on the market, he bought the business, transferring what stock remained to Pontllan-fraith and combining picture-framing with his own art work. "I did a little bit of shop work and a little bit of framing while I was in the High Street," he said.

"But apart from that it's all a question of practice, learning the techniques and using the right materials."

Because he had some experience of how a business was run, he has not seen fit to go into the minutiae of business practice, such as book-keeping and marketing. He is doing reasonable business now by word of mouth. Or, very often, the curiosity of responsible citizens using the civic amenity site at the centre will be drawn to the many business units nearby and single out his own.

Perhaps because he began in a modest way, the temptation to expand is something he will take time to consider.

"I began on a shoestring but I did get some help," he said. "Caerphilly Business Connect was my first port of call.

"They put me on to the council who told me about available premises. When I first came here it seemed huge but I have changed it around several times and now it sometimes seems a bit cramped.

"I was given a start-up grant of £1,000. I couldn't get anything from the Prince's Trust because I wasn't unemployed and I didn't really want to bother with a loan from the bank. "It took at least a year before the business started to become steady.

"Rents in the main street of town were also too high. A lot of the business is done by word-of-mouth and the fact that there is a civic amenity site means that people who come down for that also pop in. I also told customers at the High Street shop that I would be moving here."

Mr Boydell is combining the framing business with his own art. He currently specialises in brilliant pictures painted on glass, using black outlines to mimic the lead tracery of stained glass windows. He also allows local artists to use his premises as an exhibition space.

All small businesses need encouragement, not just from professional sources but also from friends and family at the end of a hard day.

Mr Boydell's partner, Hannah Lease, assumes both roles, because she is a professional artist in her own, specialising in handmade cards and prints. "She has been very supportive especially at times when I arrive home a bit miserable," he said.

A couple more years down the line he would like to expand, possibly into neighbouring premises, where he could create a bigger gallery space.

Monmouth-born, he went to school in Ross, worked for an architect, took an OND in architectural draughtsmanship and then went to Liverpool University for a year before transferring to the University of Glamorgan.

Dreams of being an architect have been replaced by the prospects of a booming business. It's not just traditional pictures that he frames: crochet, his own glasswork and even Lego models make excellent subjects for hanging on walls.

When I visited, it was one of those days when rainclouds seemed to have settled permanently above the western valley of Gwent.

Mr Boydell was too busy to notice. Which is just as well. There's enough to worry about in business without dwelling unproductively on the weather.