Rural Business Awards Winners 2016
Click here to go each category, or scroll down to see the full list.
- Best Rural Start-up
- Outstanding Rural Diversification Project
- Best Rural Clothing or Accessories Business
- Rural Innovation of the year
- Best Rural Manufacturing Business
- Best Rural Professional Services Business
- Best Rural Creative or Media based Business
- Social enterprise / community project of the year
- Best Rural Tourism Business
- Best Rural Sporting Business
- Rural Employer of the year
- Rural Entrepreneur of the year
- Best Food & Drink Business
- Champion of Champions
BEST RURAL START UP
Winner: Jolly Nice
A family run, sustainable local farm shop and take away cafe in rural Gloucestershire, using local suppliers and creating Harriet’s Jolly Nice ice cream.
Runner up: Cripps Healey
Highly Commended: JRM Agricultural Services
Presented by: Lewis Steer, Lily Warne Wool
OUTSTANDING RURAL DIVERSIFICATION PROJECT
Winner: The Pink Pig Farm
This Scunthorpe based farm has more than 120,000 annual visitors coming to see its farm park, play barn, butchery, deli and farm shop.
Runner up: Foxholes Farm
Highly Commended: The Gibbon Bridge Hotel
Presented by: Richard Sanders, Fisher German
BEST RURAL CLOTHING OR ACCESSORIES BUSINESS
Winner: The Wool Room
The Wool Room sells luxury wool bedding made from the finest British wool, which is scientifically proven to improve sleep quality.
Runner up: Le Jabot & Stock Co
Highly Commended: Helen Howe Atelier
Presented by: Paula Steer, Lily Warne Wool
RURAL INNOVATION OF THE YEAR
Winner: The Extraordinary John Starkey (Starkey’s Fruit Limited)
A major fruit grower based at Norwood Park in Nottinghamshire, where three generations of Starkey’s have been farming since 1910.
Runner up: DG Light Haulage Limited
Highly Commended: AgriCamera (Rugged Networks)
Presented by: Janine Edwards, Janine Edwards Wealth Management
BEST RURAL MANUFACTURING BUSINESS
Winner: Mike Wye & Associates Ltd
One of the foremost UK suppliers of sustainable, natural and traditional building materials.
Runner up: Zettlex UK Ltd
Highly Commended: James Kittow – Butcher & Grazier
Presented by: Anna Price, Rural Business Awards
BEST RURAL PROFESSIONAL SERVICES BUSINESS
Winner: Landmark Systems Ltd
Provide computerised solutions for businesses including farms, private estates, property management, letting companies and land agents.
Runner up: Rural Solutions Ltd
Highly Commended: Agri Advisor Solicitors
Presented by: Gary Markham, Churchgates
BEST RURAL CREATIVE OR MEDIA BASED BUSINESS
Winner: Gravity Digital Ltd
Aim to create the perfect digital voyage for companies of all sizes. They manage and deliver SEO, social media and web design.
Runner up: Farm Creative Ltd
Highly Commended: Clear Mapping Co
Presented by: Kevin Urquhart, Fraser Urquhart Media
SOCIAL ENTERPRISE/COMMUNITY PROJECT OF THE YEAR
Winner: Bùth Bharraigh Ltd
A community-owned local produce shop on the Isle of Barra selling artisan goods produced by more than 80 suppliers from Barra and Vatersay.
Runner up: Locheilnet CIC
Highly Commended: One The Square Ltd
Presented by: Jemma Clifford, Rural Business Awards
BEST RURAL TOURISM BUSINESS
Winner: Rural Concierge
Based in Herefordshire offering high quality sightseeing tours, talks and holidays in the stunning local countryside, providing anything from chauffeur-driven cars to bicycle hire.
Runner up: Larkbeare Grange
Highly Commended: Denbies Wine Estate
Presented by: Jim Dixon, Jim Dixon Associates
BEST RURAL SPORTING BUSINESS
Winner: E. J. Churchill
An award-winning shooting ground set in Buckinghamshire’s West Wycombe Estate, which hosted the World English Sporting Championship in 2014 and 2016.
Runner Up: Raisthorpe Flyers Ltd
Highly Commended: Whitbourne Estate
Presented by: Torie Blythe Richards, Partnership Lifestyle Club
RURAL EMPLOYER OF THE YEAR
Winner: Foxholes Farm
A farm shop, butchery and tea room based on a 1,000 acre farm near Ware in Hertfordshire, where the Foxholes family has farmed since just after World War Two.
Runner up: DG Light Haulage Limited
Presented by: Nick Hollick, Honesberie Shooting School
RURAL ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR
Winner: The Naked Food Company
Event catering from weddings to dinner with friends, focusing on using fresh, natural, local ingredients to provide simple cookery with a twist, delivered with first class service.
Runner up:The Gibbon Bridge Hotel
Highly Commended: Green Cow Kitchens
Presented by: Helen Woolley, Director General, CLA
BEST FOOD & DRINK BUSINESS
Winner: Keelham Farm Shop
A Skipton based company supporting local producers by selling great food, and runs innovative projects like the Veg Exchange Scheme and weekly shopper-hopper.
Runner up: The Extraordinary John Starkey (Starkey’s Fruit Limited)
Highly Commended: Jolly Nice
Presented by: Richard Thompson, St James Place Wealth Management
CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS
Winner: Landmark Systems Ltd
Provide computerised solutions for businesses including farms, private estates, property management, letting companies and land agents.
Presented by: Bob Champion