A small business owner has said opening his bike repair shop in Romford town centre has been a "dream come true".
Brandon Maker, who launched Cyclo-Venture in Romford Shopping Hall on October 26, told the Recorder he has been able to fulfil a "massive passion" of his since opening the store.
Cyclo-Venture specialises in bike repairs and also stocks parts, accessories and new bikes.
The shop is the result of more than a decade of hard work and building up expertise from Brandon, so that he can provide customers with "excellent service".
READ MORE: Comic Box owner revives store in Romford Shopping Hall
The entrepreneur used to do competitive BMX biking when he was younger, and started off his career working for Halfords - where after around eight years he rose to assistant manager, in charge of the bike department.
After working at different start-ups and electric bike companies in the years that followed, Brandon soon noticed a gap in the market.
He told the Recorder: "I noticed that no one offers mobile repairs for people to go to their homes - you have to take your bike everywhere to get fixed and there is often a long waiting time.
"Eventually I realised there's my market: doing home repairs."
Once Brandon carved out his niche, it was still around a year until he got to the point where he could open his own shop in the Romford Shopping Hall.
But his experience - and love for all things cycling - has meant he has been able to "hit the ground running" with Cyclo-Venture.
READ MORE: A look inside Romford Shopping Hall vintage shop Modernariato
He said: "Cycling is a massive passion for me.
"I've been doing it for years, so it has become like second nature.
"Because I've got a lot of industry knowledge it's meant that I've been able to hit the ground running, and provide a very good service for people and get people to come back and use my services again.
"For the last five to ten years I've thought about having a bike shop, so to now have opened my own shop it's quite a dream come true."
Brandon encourages anyone with bike-related issues to pop down to the shop or drop him a WhatsApp - and says there is "pretty much not any bikes that I'm not able to work on".
Cyclo-Venture is located at unit 25 of the Romford Shopping Hall, in Market Place.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here