Our photograph is reproduced by kind permission of newburytoday.co.uk

Dave Pottinger, aged 52, opted for redundancy when the telecoms firm he had worked for for 21 years moved its offices to London from Basingstoke and decided to start up his own business.

"Being faced with finding another 9 to 5 job sat behind a computer terminal I decided to do something where I would be my own boss and do something that I would actually enjoy," he said."Opening a shop seemed really attractive - but selling what? Books was my first choice but there is no way that I could compete with the high street chains."

So he decided to combine one of his passions with his job."For many years now I have collected wooden puzzle boxes, but have found them impossible to buy anywhere in the UK, having only seen them in the US and the Far East," he added."So I spent weeks on the internet trying to find suppliers and now have a shop full of truly wonderful boxes and puzzles."

And so Open & Shut was born. The shop stocks wooden boxes and puzzles, some of which, it is believed, are not available to buy anywhere else in the UK.

There are Japanese puzzle boxes which are opened by finding the sliding panels and moving these in the correct sequence.

Heartwood puzzle boxes which come in all shapes and sizes with their own unique secrets for opening. Without knowing how to open these boxes it is almost impossible to guess.

Open & Shut also sells Pentangle Puzzles which are 'take them apart and put them back together' puzzles - some of which are very simple but others are nearly impossible! As with all products available at Open & Shut everything is designed with an element of puzzle and an element of ornament about it.

Finally Open & Shut sells the Bedlam Cube with 13 unique pieces and over 19,000 ways of getting them back in the box is seriously hard work to solve!

All products are made from sustainable sources and there are several tree planting schemes associated with the manufacturers so – “buy a box and plant a tree”.

"Obviously this is a gamble and has caused me several sleepless nights," said Dave. "But now that the shop is open I am really excited about it and can only trust that the people of Newbury will share my enthusiasm for these beautiful wooden conundrums".

Further information is available at www.OpenAndShut.biz