THE future is bright for a local fencing business.

John Bright Fencing and Country Store, which celebrates its 35th birthday this year, is keeping things local by enlisting the help of Bridport firm M&M Marketing and PR to help with its advertising, marketing and publicity.

M&M is by Max Riddington and fellow journalist Margery Hookings.

John Bright Fencing and Country Store is run by John Bright, his wife, Bridget, and their daughter, Beth, on a 15-acre site at Paverlands Farm on the edge of Salway Ash, near Bridport.

Mr Riddington said: “Brights is a popular family firm and a real part of the local community.”

John and Bridget Bright are both from farming families – Bridget from Pilsdon and John from All Saints near Axminster. The couple, who met through Young Farmers, were living at Broadwindsor in 1982 when John gave up being a butcher to set up his own fencing business.

And it all started from a conversation over the garden fence.

Mr Bright said: “I fenced our garden and then the neighbours asked me to do theirs. It all snowballed from there.”

M&M’s Margery Hookings is a farmer’s daughter and has seen how John Bright Fencing has expanded over the years.

“I started work as a cub reporter in Bridport just as John Bright was setting up his new business. Since then, the firm has grown into a well-respected company, employing 18 people and working on contracts all over the region,” said Ms Hookings.

M&M helped launch a bursary for a local student to study law for client Kitson & Trotman and created a recent lifestyle press campaign for Heavers Windows and Conservatories.

Max worked in advertising in London on brands such as Virgin, Oxfam and Volkswagen before finally making Dorset home. She’s also a journalist and has written a column for The Times newspaper, travel and family for the Guardian and about health for the Express. As an author, her books include a biography of Princess Diana’s mum and the story of a champion racehorse, which was in the final running for Sports Book of the Year.

Margery trained as a journalist with Mirror Group Newspapers. She was editor of the Bridport News and worked in senior communications roles for the NHS and a housing association, as well running social media accounts for a prominent regional firm of estate agents and managing publicity for a popular local theatre.

Margery writes, often under the pen name of Maddie Grigg, for magazines and newspapers, including a regular column in The People’s Friend, the world’s oldest weekly magazine for women, She has an award-winning blog, The World from my Window, and writes for adorsetyear.com