A Shepton Mallet opticians dedication to customer service has scooped them a gong at a prestigious business awards ceremony.

The winners of the 2019 Somerset Business Awards were announced on Friday, 25 October, at a glittering black-tie event at the Winter Gardens Pavilion, in Weston-super-Mare.

Nearly 400 business people from across Somerset attended the gala evening, which was organised by Somerset Chamber of Commerce and hosted by Somerset cricket legend Peter Trego.

The 2019 finalists came from all corners of the county, from Bridgwater, Taunton, Frome, Axbridge, Evercreech, Edington, Wheddon Cross and Wincanton, to Wellington, Sparkford, Shepton Mallet, Roadwater, Watchet, Weston-super-Mare, Yeovil, Glastonbury, Congresbury and Highbridge.

This year was the 15th anniversary of the awards and Somerset Chamber Chief Executive Stephen Henagulph thanked everyone who had entered: "I am extremely proud of our county's businesses; we were all blown away by the quality of the entries and what Somerset's businesses are achieving and producing.

"It was fantastic to be able to honour winners and finalists from all corners of the county and from a wide range of sectors and industries. Thank you to everyone who entered the awards and thank you to our judges and sponsors who continue to make these the biggest and best business awards in Somerset."

It was the 10th year main sponsor Albert Goodman had supported the awards and Managing Partner Richard Bugler said it was an honour to be celebrating the very best businesses in Somerset.

"Businesses are the lifeblood of this county. There is a lot to be gloomy about at the moment, but despite all this the Somerset business community continues to do what it does best," Mr Bugler said.

Service Excellence (sponsored by Brook Financial Management):

Winner - The Young Clinic t/a Christopher Young Opticians, Shepton Mallet

The runners-up were: Netitude Ltd, Frome and SDS Limited, Edington

The Service Excellence Award recognises customer service which goes over and above normal industry expectations, with clear strategies for maintaining such high levels of service. It was presented by Alison Smith, Director, of Brook Financial Management.

The award was accepted by Christopher Young who said: "What an honour this is for my team. As everyone here as a business owner knows, no-one standing up here has done it on their own; their team is so important so thank you all very much indeed."

All the finalists were filmed by media students from Weston College who created short films about each business which were shown during the evening and will form part of the students' studies.