Yorkshire-based luxury bed maker Harrison Spinks has been shortlisted in the prestigious national Rural Business Awards which acknowledge the success of businesses working in the Great British countryside.
The company, which employs more than 600 people, has been shortlisted in the ‘Best Rural Manufacturing Business’ category, while employee John Horsfield, who manages the company’s hemp production on its farm at Bolton Percy, has been shortlisted for ‘Rural Employee of the Year’.
It has been a successful three months for the fifth-generation family business which in April received two prestigious Queen’s Awards for Enterprise and, earlier this month, won ‘Family Business of the Year’ and ‘Manufacturing Family Business of the Year’ at the FBU Family Business Awards.
Simon Spinks, Managing Director at Harrison Spinks, said: “We are delighted to have been shortlisted in these awards which recognise excellence in companies working in the rural environment.
“Our business is indelibly linked to the countryside and we have more than 350 acres of working land in Yorkshire. From our farm we grow crops and rear sheep to take fibres and wool which we blend to form our natural mattress fillings, and from our sustainably-managed forest we grow trees for the timber used in our divans.
“As we say, our beds don’t start life in a factory, they start on a farm, so the success of our business relies on our employees working in the countryside, so we are thrilled that John Horsfield has been shortlisted as Rural Employee of the Year.
“John is an employee who goes above and beyond to ensure our employees, guests and clients leave the farm enthused and passionate about the use of hemp not just as a natural mattress material, but about the crop in general.
“He stands out time and again whenever we have visitors – he’s a true ambassador for Harrison Spinks and the role our farm plays in the success of the company.”
The Rural Business Awards winners will be announced in October.
