'I don't owe anyone a penny,' he told BB, 'so when Friday Holdings offered a deal, it was silly not to take them up on the offer.'

The deal sees Relph and the rest of the Mailspeed team remain in place, while the business will develop a stronger online presence.

The Mailspeed mail order business has expanded a lot, Relph told BB, and the Friday Group's expertise is in web businesses and publishing.

'They also own the boats&outboards website and they have their own print works and web development companies, so it adds a lot for us.'

With all that behind them, they can give us a huge database of customers, he said. 'Combine that with ours and it gets pretty substantial.'

And what of Relph's future? 'I've signed a three year agreement with them,' he told us. 'And hopefully I'll be able to stay on after that.'

But, he added, three years is a long time…