The Lake District’s most successful self-catering cottage company, Heart of the Lakes, has scooped a major award at the ‘Family Business of the Year’ awards held in London. The family business, which celebrated its 40th anniversary last year, won the ‘North and Northern Ireland People’s Choice Award’ for family business of the year and was also the runner up in the national ‘People’s Choice Award’.
The Family Business of the Year Awards are organised by FBU, the award-winning magazine and resource centre, and celebrates the family business sector. Now in their fourth year, the awards recognise the diversity, strength and depth of family firms across the UK and seek to highlight the contribution that family firms make to the UK economy.
Open to family firms of all generations, sizes and sectors, the awards recognise some outstanding family firms and help to put family businesses on the map. The People’s Choice awards are determined regionally by the public with an overall National People’s Choice Award. The awards process concluded at a gala reception and awards ceremony that took place in London at the prestigious May Fair Hotel in London on June 2 where all the winners were crowned.
As Paul Andrews, Founder and Managing Director of Family Business United (‘FBU’) explains:
“We were delighted to pull together such a vibrant bunch of family businesses for the 2016 FBOTY awards, some that have succeeded for numerous generations and continue to thrive, and others that are relatively young but have great values at the heart of what they do.”
“Heart of the Lakes is an established family firm. The public really supported them and not only did they triumph in the North and Northern Ireland category, they also finished second overall in the National People’s Choice category. They are a great British family firm and truly deserve all the plaudits that winning this award brings.”
“We are absolutely thrilled to have won the People’s Choice award for the regional category and been placed as runners-up in the national award.” added Heart of the Lakes’, Sue Jackson. “To have been voted for by the public is the ultimate accolade. Ethics and values have always been at the very heart of what we do, so it is a great honour to have those qualities recognised by such a wide audience.”