Marlow’s entrepreneurship and originality will be celebrated this weekend at the official opening of a home-grown vineyard after six years in the making.

Henry and Kaye Laithwaite planted the first vines on Pump Lane in 2011 and on Saturday, May 21 the pair will exclusively welcome their first customers on to the Harrow and Hope Vineyard - which produces sparkling wines.

Mr Laithwaite said Marlow’s diversity was a huge driving force when they were picking a prime location for their project, as it provided business opportunities that they may not have found elsewhere.

And a collaboration with the iconic Rebellion Brewery – which will sell the wine - has enabled them to share ideas and help get their business off the ground.

Statistics also suggest Marlow is a prime location for start-ups, after 300 new businesses registered with Companies House in the postcode SL7 in 2015, compared with 175 in 2013 according to Buckinghamshire Business First.

Mr Laithwaite said: “We love Marlow. On the restaurant side of things we have the Hand and Flowers and other great places We want to get in to as many places as possible and Marlow is getting more and more popular. It’s thriving.

“It is tough though. There used to be an independent wine shop in Marlow but a lot of the wine shops have gone as it is difficult to work independently.

“We are working with the brewery and we are keen for the people of Marlow to get behind us.

“We want to move it forward as much as we can. We want to be the best in the country. We are really serious about this and we just wanted to get as many people as involved as possible.”

Co-operating with other businesses appears to be the way forward for the town’s entrepreneurs after Bella Italia’s Simon Bown and Mauro Bernesi told the MFP last month they were searching for a partner to share the expensive High Street rent prices with.

And founder of Marlow Entrepreneurs, Nick Peperell, hailed the town’s creative industry, saying co-operation is a key factor in the success of young businesses.

He said: “There are multiple of creative businesses in our workspace and it is great. They have helped us to develop and we can share ideas in a form of cross-coalition.

“On one hand in Marlow it is s 4 x 4’s and pilates balls but on another level it is a lot of creative people who have worked hard and taken risks to build something they have a real passion for and have an interest in making the town better.

“That is what it is about, it is about community and schools of thought that build on that by sharing and collaborating.”

While Saturday’s launch is exclusively for customers who have pre-ordered a case of the wine but the couple will hold tours and wine tastings over the summer, details of which can be found on their website http://www.harrowandhope.com/