A greetings card shop which as been an institution in Totnes High Street for more than three decades has closed its doors for the final time.

Shopkeepers Roy, 67, and Jackie Apps, 64, have retiring from All The Best, which they have run together since 1990.

The pair moved to Totnes in 1988 when Roy opened a newsagents ‘Roybern Bros’ in the High Street with his brother Bernard.

When Bernard retired in 2010 Roy ran both shops until 2016, when he sold the newsagents to focus solely on running the card shop with Jackie.

Now the couple are looking forward to retiring and taking up coarse fishing, although they will miss their customers hugely, said Roy.

“It’s the people who have been the highlight, genuinely, they have been absolutely wonderful.

“I know it sounds trite but it isn’t, it’s just been great in that respect and we will miss them.”

Before moving to the town – where they lived above the shop – Roy worked as a branch manager for WH Smiths in Middlesborough, Nottingham and Kettering.

“They wanted me to move to London, they told me that was the plan before I became an area manager.

“My wife and I had to take stock. We’d got one new born and one on the way.

“We left in 1988 to come down here because we heard there was a shop on the market - a long established newsagents run by Sydney Cummings and his wife.

“My brother was unsettled as manager of WHSmiths in Exeter so I said shall we go into a partnership, and that’s exactly what we did.

“We brought our two children up here until they were about 12 and 14, living above the shop all that time.

“Then we wanted a house so we ended up moving over to Paignton because we couldn’t afford the property in Totnes, which is still the case really, generally.

“We don’t intend to move, we shall stay where we are.

“We don’t have extravagant tastes, we are quite content in the knowledge we are staying in this beautiful area.

“We’ve got the coast, which is paradise for us, on one hand and the moor on the other.”

Roy is proud of his brother Bernard’s lasting legacy to the town – playing a key part in launching the Saturday market, which remains popular today.

“We are quite proud as a family that when my brother was chairman of the Totnes Chamber of Trade all those years ago, he was instrumental directly, with other people on the committee at the time, in implementing a Saturday market,” said Roy.

The couple plan to enjoy their retirement spending more time with their three grandchildren and fishing.

“To be honest with you, just going out for a coffee and a cake when we want to rather than being dictated by the clock would be paradise for us,” Roy said.

“We are also members of the South Devon Railway so I might take a more active part there than just being a member.”

Sarah Kidd, chairwoman of Totnes Chamber of Commerce: “Roy is lovely and they have been a huge part of the business community for years.

“As chamber chair I will really miss their insight and knowledge.”

The new owners plan to set up a retail business, although not selling cards, said Roy.