A VILLAGE photography business has been named the best portrait studio in Oxfordshire because of its customer service.

All People Photography, based in Launton, near Bicester, won the title at the Oxfordshire Prestige Awards and has kept its five-star status for the third year running.

The Oxfordshire Prestige Awards celebrates small and medium-sized enterprises consisting of local businesses and sole traders that have thrived in their community and have proven their success.

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Winners were chosen on their marketing and branding; business growth methods; customer experience; and approach to new ideas.

Peter Griffith, who runs the studio said: “It’s fantastic to win the award for Oxfordshire Portrait Studio of the year.

“Both myself and my colleague Michelle Tebbutt have worked hard to build up a reputation of high quality imagery, backed up by giving the client a great customer experience from their first point of contact with us to collection of the finished product.

“Having only moved to Bicester in 2017, the studio gives us a great location from which to offer our services to our clients in Oxfordshire and beyond.”

Awards director, Rupert Hemingway, said: “All winners in the awards have shown an exemplary commitment towards their business, overcoming local and global challenges to succeed in our awards.

"We wish them a huge congratulations and look forward to celebrating their win throughout 2020.”

The studio also won The Xperience 5 Star Studio award.

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The scheme grades businesses on the quality of the overall experience they offer their customers, from the standard of photography right down to the cleanliness of the studio space.

All People Photography is one of 12 studios in the UK to be given top marks for the third year in a row, by The Xperience Group.

The business is one of 124 photographic studios and photographers from across the UK to have joined the scheme.

Head of training at Xperience, Mark Cleghorn, said the new scheme offers customers reassurance.

He said: “In the UK there has never been a way of grading professional photography on the experience as well as the creativity, quality and most importantly the customer service they offer.

“I wanted to change all that by introducing a standardised system of recognising and rewarding quality.

"Now customers will know exactly what type of service they can expect from an Xperience Group photographer, and with the guarantee of quality from a five-star studio they can trust that they will be in great hands.”

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The scheme rates studios on a number of factors including: the quality of their photography and lighting, layout and cleanliness of their studio space and viewing room, clarity and variety of their price list, range of products they offer, quality of their literature and branding, signage and the first impression it gives customers and quality of the bathroom facility.

Studios are re-graded every year.

Describing why she loves being a photographer so much, Ms Tebbutt said: "In this job every day is different, one day I can be shooting a newborn baby and the next a thousand racing Santa’s or a member of the royal family.

"I love the challenge of lifestyle photography. We are blessed with a great location – the opportunity to work both in the studio and outdoors helps us to push our creative boundaries and produce stunning images for our clients.”