Fifty years ago, when Glasgow professional photographer Sidney Shear opened his studios in North Hanover Street, his work was already acclaimed in Scottish commercial circles for its quality and reliability - and both aspects have stayed ever since with the firm he founded.

At first he was in partnership with a colleague, Roger Bryan, and the new B&S company provided a general photographic service to a strong list of industrial and commercial blue-chip clients.

A treasured reminder from that time is a photograph of the hard-worked delivery van which they operated around the city, backing up the small team of photographers based in their North Hanover Street studios.

Eventually the arrangement ended, Bryan leaving for Canada, but his initial B remains in the firm's present day title of B&S Visual Technologies.

Soon the prospering commercial photographic firm had to move to larger premises in Berkeley Street. A team of six professional photographers was taken on to cope with a steadily expanding portfolio of work which included several major whisky distilleries and a selection of top advertising agencies.

During the late seventies when Shear's son Steven joined the company soon after completing his education at Eastwood High School, Glasgow, a challenge faced B&S and a decision had to be taken.

What in the professional past had mainly been a black-and-white world was rapidly changing to a world of colour photography.

But as that pattern continued to grow, it was plain that a lot of photographers would be interested in a new independent colour developing and printing service.

Soon B&S took the decision to cease being photographers who took pictures and switch instead to providing a service for other professional photographers.

The decision involved considerable expenditure in specialised equipment. But, once taken, it very quickly paid off. Shear became increasingly involved in the expansion of a reliable quality developing and printing service which more and more Scottish photographers came to rely on as crucially important to their individual specialised businesses.

The modest B&S company kept growing. Shear recalls that when he first joined his father they had 15 employees. Today that total has reached more than 110 and is continuing to grow. When Sidney Shear retired, Steven Shear took over as owner and managing director.

B&S, now internationally known as a graphics production unit, is unchallenged as the largest of its type in Scotland and among the top handful of the largest in the UK.

''Our vision statement is to be recognised as the ultimate production facility for graphics, display and photographic services in Scotland,'' said Shear. ''We provide a service for clients who may come from anywhere.

''We are particularly proud that today's client list includes quite a number of firms who first gave us work when my father was starting the company - and they have stayed with us ever since.''