Awards night honours for local firms
FOUR West Lancashire businesses have been honoured in the 2016 Lancashire Tourism Awards.
Unfortunately, none of the West Lancs nominees won in their categories but the pleasure of being recognised was a privilege for them all.
The Swan Spectacular at WWT Martin Mere Wetland Centre in Burscough was nominatied in the Visiter Experience category.
Infusions Cafe Bistro in Burscough was nominated for the Taste Lancashire Award.
West Tower Exclusive Wedding Venue, Ormskirk, and Artisan Foodworks, of Burscough, were also nominated for the Wedding Venue Award and the Lancashire Producers & Makers Award, respectfully.
The presentation took place at a celebration at Blackburn Cathedral on Thursday, November 10, with other awards such as best hotel, best visitor attractions and tourism pub award being presented.
The awards were supported by host sponsors Blackburn with Darwen Council and headline sponsor University of Central Lancashire (UCLan).
Award-winning journalist and broadcaster Bill Turnbull was guest presenter, entertaining the audience and guiding the event through the 18 awards.
David Peaks, director of Artisan Foodworks said: “It is excellent to be recognised for what we do.
“Dealing with a niche product can be difficult but we are pleased that people are impressed with us.
“The nomination has been a great incentive for everybody and attending the awards was a welldeserved break for us all.”
Infusion Cafe Bistro owner Craig Walsh said: “The awards have been great for us. We were obviously disappointed that we didn’t win but it has really raised our profile and that is something we are very thankful for.” “This is our chance now to keep improving and promoting ourselves and the local suppliers we use.”
Ruth Connor, chief executive of Marketing Lancashire said, “Lancashire Tourism Awards is all about Lancashire’s amazing tourism businesses, experiences and of course our people; it’s about celebrating and recognising the quality that we have in our tourism industry that attracts over 64 million people to the county.”