NOTE TO ALL WINNERS & FINALISTS:
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BEST RURAL START UP
WINNER: Lily Warne Wool was set up by mother and son Paula and Lewis Steer as a response to receiving low rates for their wool. Inspired to start up by Paula’s love of knitting, which has passed through the generations, Lily Warne Wool’s product is spun from their own flock of Greyface Dartmoor sheep. Already it has attracted the interest of major department stores such as John Lewis and has enjoyed strong overseas sales and national TV coverage on the likes of BBC’s Countryfile. Lily Warne Wool has a strong eco vibe with its “Farm to Yarn” slogan. Not only that, its commitment to the local community is exemplary; educational farm visits are organised so that the firm can inspire and instruct others about their breed of sheep, and the owners also act as advisors on the Dartmoor Hill Farm Project.
RUNNER UP: Squirrel Stores is a village store in rural Leicestershire which has only been going for less than a year but has already become a lifeline for many. The shop used to be a newsagent, which was bought by Sophie Cullumbine, who ran the florist shop next door and who was determined to turn it into a village shop fulfilling a real local need. Despite the original price tag being beyond her budget Sophie eventually managed to secure the shop and asked local people what they would like her to stock. Six months on, and the shop sells local meat, eggs, cake, milk, Chinese takeaways and even locally made peanut brittle! Open from 7am to 7pm, it also offers phone top-up and dry-cleaning and hopes to expand its services to include home delivery and a Post Office. Owner Sophie would also like to open other similar stores in other rural locations where shops like hers can be a real lifeline, not just for the elderly, but for commuters and single mums who struggle to find time to do their shopping.
OUTSTANDING RURAL MANUFACTURING BUSINESS
WINNER: Zettlex produces compact, accurate sensors measuring position or speed in harsh environments, used in defence, medical, motorsport, aerospace and energy production industries. Sensors must withstand harsh conditions including extreme temperatures, shock, vibration, electromagnetic noise, high speeds, liquid immersion, aggressive chemicals or potentially explosive situations. Zettlex uses innovative technology which was invented, patented and developed by its founders. Traditionally sensors of this kind are based on electrical transformers but Zettlex has big cost and efficiency advantages by using its own printing technique and 3D computer engineering to design, build and test its products. The company started out as two engineers working in a garden shed and now has a global reputation, a forward workload stretching into 2017 and contracts for jet engines, space rockets and safety critical equipment.
RUNNER UP: Border Oak based in rural Herefordshire, has revitalised the lost medieval craft of oak framing for the building market and over the course of nearly 40 years in business has continued to innovate and adapt to win a reputation for a first-class, sustainable product that combines functionality with beauty. The company uses medieval techniques to manufacture its oak frames by hand but has also invested in state-of-the-art computer-aided design as part of the process, specifically for construction techniques and structural engineering to meet and exceed ever-changing building regulations. Among its many innovations, Border Oak came up with the revolutionary “infill panel” which meant oak was water-tight, warm and flexible for the first time. The company is now at the forefront of sustainable design solutions which mean their oak frames remain desirable in a competitive market.
BEST RURAL APPAREL PRODUCT OR BRAND
WINNER : The owners of Alpaca Fashion, from Dulverton, were themselves alpaca farmers before spotting a gap in the market for producing textiles made from the creatures’ wool. Having turned to alpaca farming in their 50s, the owners (previously lawyers) are now the only alpaca textiles producers in Britain. Co-owner Anila Preston was inspired to set up her company after reading about 19th century industrialist Sir Titus Salt, who used the wool from alpacas to make a “lustre” cloth. Anila learned how to spin, weave, knit and felt the wool herself and the company’s high-end product is now created in British heritage mills for export to the fashion industry, counting Richard Anderson from Savile Row as one of its clients.
RUNNER UP: The Wool Room in Rutland has cornered the market in the important area of allergy-free bedding. Born out of a desire to see the Great British product of wool properly valued in the marketplace – at the time of its founding in 2008 it was costing sheep-farmers more to shear their sheep than they made back in the wool – The Wool Room’s aim was to produce quality woollen goods for the homeware market. It is in its sleep ware range that The Wool Room has expanded most, being the only natural bedding provider to hold the Allergy UK seal of approval and the first to prove that there is a non-chemical solution to dust mites.
BEST RURAL FOOD OR DRINK PRODUCT OR BRAND
WINNER: The Pembrokeshire Beach Food Company was set up in 2011 by Jonathan Williams, who wanted to set up a mobile catering business which celebrated the seaside heritage of the beautiful Pembrokeshire coast, particularly the tradition of eating laver. Starting out with occasional stalls, the business is now well known for the mobile Café Môr on Freshwater West beach – which is run entirely from solar and wind energy – as well as producing its own range of coastal-inspired produce selling in high-end delicatessens.
RUNNER UP: Warner Edwards gin distillery was set up in rural Northamptonshire by Sion Edwards and Tom Warner, who first met at agricultural college in 1997. Their initial aim was to create a business making essential oils, but they then decided to make alcohol instead! Starting in 2010, Warner Edwards makes its range of craft gins at a converted barn at Tom’s family farm using a copper ‘still’ named Curiosity, the property’s own spring water, home-grown grain and elderflower, plus ten secret botanicals. Despite their small size, the business has won a reputation for quality and was awarded double gold at the recent San Francisco World Spirits Collection.
BEST RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT
WINNER: The committed team at The River Dart Country Park in Devon has carried out extensive ecological projects, including being the first in Britain to install a “Hydro Dynamic Screw” – more commonly known as an Archimedes Screw – which enables it to be self-sufficient for two thirds of the year, saving 160 tons of carbon. Other installations include a biomass boiler, district-heating scheme, solar panels and a weir on the river Dart with a specially built pass to help fish migrate.
RUNNER UP: Oxfordshire’s Hallidays Hydropwer, run by Henry Reily-Collins, finds sites to develop as hydro-power investments, as well as helping other companies and individuals with their own hydro-electric projects. An arm of the Hallidays Group, the company was started after the larger group enjoyed great success with a £3 million refurbishment of the Grade II listed Dandridge’s Mill in Oxfordshire, and saw a gap in the market for complete hydro-electric solutions.
BEST RURAL PROFESSIONAL SERVICES BUSINESS
WINNER: Based in Huntington, Churchgates accountants have 525 agricultural clients based across 120,000 acres of countryside. With much of its workforce themselves from farming families, the firm provides a grassroots, comprehensive accountancy and tax planning services for their wide breadth of rural clients. Churchgates employs a strong technical team to keep abreast of the latest legislation affecting rural agricultural communities. They differ from their competitors by offering a year-round tax management system tailored to suit not only farming businesses, but families too. Recognising the fact that many farms involve the twin complexities of families and money, the firm also provides comprehensive additional support for farming families including a risk register and the organisation of formal family annual general meetings.
RUNNER UP: Settle-based co-operative Lowe Maintenance Training provides forestry and land-based training courses to groups and individuals. The company’s courses include dry stone wall making, using chainsaws, gardening workshops, pest control, tree climbing and rescue and the safe use of pesticides.
BEST FIELDSPORTS, EQUESTRIAN OR RURAL RECREATION BUSINESS
WINNER: The Honesberie Shooting School was founded by professional shot Nick Hollick, who has represented Britain in both British and European championships in the sport. Based in a beautiful corner of the countryside in Priors Marston, near Southam, it offers the chance to people of all ages to have a go at clay shooting. Located on a working farm, Honesberie has 70 clay traps across 400 acres of countryside and holds simulated game days to get people interested in the sport of game shooting. The school also works with young people, hosting ‘young shot’ days for youngsters aged between six and 15, and holding the “Rugby School challenge” on its site.
RUNNER UP: The Shotgun & Chelsea Bun Club is a ladies-only shooting club committed to getting more women involved in clay pigeon shooting, which it does by holding shooting events around the country. Founder Victoria Knowles-Lacks, who is based in the Herefordshire countryside, has given more than 8,000 women an opportunity to shoot since starting up the club.
MOST OUTSTANDING RURAL DIVERSIFICATION PROJECT
WINNER: The Hexgreave Estate, near Farnsfield, is a country estate whose hall dates back to the mid-18th century and whose parkland, woods, lake and commercial farmland stretch over more than 1,000 acres. Work began on the refurbishment of the estate in 2000 with the aim of creating office space and live/work homes which combined the traditional with the contemporary. Over the past decade, under the ownership of Tony Strawson, a huge range of projects have been undertaken to create a modern working estate fit for the 21st century, including a £2 million conversion project on the hall to turn it into an office space offering the latest broadband, while retaining original historic features such as cornices, and the conversion of old cottages into live/work homes for the home-working community. Environmental considerations have been fully addressed with a biomass boiler and a highly efficient willow coppicing system which provides heating as well as a natural filtration system.
RUNNER UP: Eco Track & Access Ltd (ETA) is one of the UK’s most innovative manufacturers of eco-friendly trackway, pedestrian walkways and portable flooring. The company was started by Jonathan Vaughan with the aim of providing temporary access for agricultural shows, equestrian and sporting events and festivals. Its patented trackway systems have been designed and developed by the ETA team and have strong eco-credentials with their use of recycled materials both in the manufacturing process and at the end of their use.
BEST RURAL CONSTRUCTION PROJECT
WINNER : The Allerton Project, on the Loddington Estate in Leicestershire, involved the transformation of a redundant brick built cattle shed with an asbestos roof into a thriving, carbon neutral visitor and training community centre. Part of the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust, project leaders secured more than £400,000 to complete the task, which involved an impressive array of innovative environmental techniques, including 500 straw bales and sheep’s wool for insulation, fencing made from the estate’s own recycled agricultural plastics, a rainwater harvesting system for the toilets, photovoltaic cells on the roof for power, and a fully automated biomass heating system using thinnings from the farm’s hedgerows. The end result was a building that helped boost visitor numbers from 400 a year to 3,300, and is used by local groups such as the WI and a local traditional spinning school.
RUNNER UP: The Holkham Estate, in Norfolk, is famous the world over for being the home of the Earls of Leicester and the setting for films such as Shakespeare in Love and The Duchess. But in these awards it showed a different side with a range of different construction projects showing commitment and respect for both the traditional and contemporary. The estate’s redevelopment of a 50,000 square foot listed building was one of the projects which impressed judges, along with its commitment to renewable energy by saving 8,786 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually through its 100 acre solar park. The panels produce enough power for more than 6,000 homes but are well shielded so as to prevent visual impact on the North Norfolk countryside. Meanwhile, extensive refurbishments on the estate’s property have been undertaken with the aim of allowing it to develop a non-farming income into the 21st century. London gilder Rupert Coke has overseen the restoration of the Green State Bedroom among other areas of the historic hall.