Celebrating his 65th birthday, the birth of his first grandchild and 40 years of business at his Harpenden audio visual entertainment shop marks a very memorable year for Tulsi Parmar.

Throughout the growing changes in technology, Mr Parmar been apart of AV82 Home Entertainment Experiences in Harpenden High Street since 1973.

Beginning as a TV engineer at Studio 99, he took ownership of the shop and renamed it Studio 82, before it rebranded as AV82 in July this year.

Mr Parmar was joined by customers, friends and family at a 40th birthday party thrown at the shop, where visitors enjoyed old footage of the store and images of technology through the times.

He said: "It was absolutely fantastic. It was jam packed and there were lots of people enjoying themselves.

"It has been quite a year, with a lot of celebrations."

When asked how he has managed to sustain his business for 40 years, Mr Parmar said: "Technology moves fast and the challenge is to keep on providing the best service to our clients.

"What with the recession, we have had our ups and downs but we pride ourselves on our customers trusting us.

"Often we are left to install surprises, where the customer will leave their house key with us, so we can go in and install something as a surprise. We are very well-trusted and a lot of our business comes from recommendations.

"I have a great team. We are like a family. "

Tulsi has two daughters, Aarti and Veebha.

Aarti, who is involved in marketing for the business, said: "I am super proud of my dad. He is a jovial and fun kind of guy, who the customers love.

"Behind every successful man there is always a woman and that is my mum, Niru. She has been a strong pillar of support through all the struggles and battles."