FURNITURE shop Premier Furniture Warehouse celebrated its first birthday since opening in part of the former HJ Knee department store in Trowbridge with a prize draw for its customers.

The firm, which is based in Shaftesbury, Dorset, moved into the unit opposite The Kings Arms in Castle Street in May last year - just two weeks after Trowbridge’s oldest town centre department store closed in Fore Street.

Premier Furniture Warehouse is run by Karl Maggs and Dermot Donaghy, who had previously run Premier Interiors in The Shires Shopping Centre until it closed earlier last year.

The company organised a prize draw as part of its birthday celebrations which customers were entered into once they spent £500 in the store, with the winning couple picking up their voucher for £500 on Thursday (July 16).

Mr Donaghy said: “We have had a good first year and people now say that they are going to PFW rather than the old Knees store, which does mean something.

“We have a strong client base and we are getting repeat business, which is always a good sign. Getting away from it being Knees was tricky at first as it was so important to the town, but we have now established our own identity.

“We provide mid to top range furniture and in a difficult climate we are proving to be very popular. The traffic is very good and it helps that we have a good amount of window space as it attracts customers who are passing by.”