Ennerdale Brewery clinched the top prize of best overall business at the Cumbrian final of 'England's Business Awards' over the weekend.

The award is testament to 'the commitment of its staff and value provided to its clients', director Paul Zanacchi said.

The brewery received a letter some months ago which informed them that they were nominated by someone.  They were then informed that they had been made a finalist and someone would be attending the brewery.

Whilst Paul was unable to attend the awards evening, staff members Gemma Scott (head chef) and David Pettit (brewery tap manager) attended on the brewery's behalf.

Paul said: "By all accounts it was an amazing night, it was like a red carpet ceremony. The first award announced was the biggest, and everyone was shocked it find out it was us! We were up against over 300 businesses."

The brewery was originally up for the best restaurant award, but Paul said to receive the best business award was 'unbelievable'.

Paul said: "It is a credit to the hard work of the staff and the bistro."

Paul pointed to the team's growth over the previous years as a contributing factor in their win. He said: "Over the last two years we have excelled and that comes from bringing in the right people, Gemma and David were key in that. Their focus on the progression over the years, their vision and stratergy.

"It's an honour to have the staff we have. The way they work, and the customer satisfaction and quality ratings are second to none. It shows because we always receive comments about the family feel and warm welcome customers gets, customers who are coming back week in, week out.

"That feedback as an owner is unreal to hear. It’s a joint effort, purely everyone that works there is part of that achieving that."