A company in Devon has been named one of the best rural businesses in the country after winning a regional Rural Business Award.
River Dart Country Park in Ashburton, was named Best Rural Tourism Business at the South West regional finals of the Rural Business Awards in partnership with Amazon. Held at Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester and regionally sponsored by Openreach. River Dart Country Park were also runners up in the Best Rural Recreational or Outdoor Pursuits Business category
Following the impressive achievement at the regional final, River Dart Country Park will now go on to represent South West at the national final in February 2020.
About River Dart Country Park
With over ninety acres of woods, scenic walks and beautiful lakes, the River Dart Country Park is the perfect setting for all kinds of outdoor activities. With over 25 park attractions, children can rough-and-tumble over space nets, swing through trees on jungle ropes, or even capture a wooden pirate ship surrounded by water! Toddlers aren’t left out either with our Toddlers Beach and Playground (Lilliput), just perfect for tiny explorers.
You can visit for the day, camp on our award-winning camping and touring site, or stay in our luxurious bed and breakfast en-suite rooms in Holne Park House and the refurbished Coach House.
For the more adventurous, during high season, at extra cost, “Dare Devils” offer instructor supervised activities on-site, including Mega Zip Wire, Zorbs, High Ropes Course, open boat canoeing and indoor climbing. For those who wish to enjoy a full day of adventure off-site, the Family Activities with qualified instructors, will take you rock climbing on and around Dartmoor, open boat canoeing on the beautiful Dart estuary and the chance to explore local caves!
With our multi-award-winning camping and caravanning holiday park, and elegant en-suite bed and breakfast accommodation at Holne Park House, the choice of holiday is yours.
Roger Sell, General Manager at River Dart Country Park said:
“To be recognised as one of the best rural businesses in the South West is quite something. Then to go on and win the award, its fantastic. We are extremly proud of our contribution to the tourism and outdoor pursuits industries and both of these awards really count for alot. It is a fantastic achievement for the whole team”.
Now in its fifth year, the Rural Business Awards is the only UK-wide programme dedicated to showcasing the success of rural businesses. It is run in partnership with Amazon.
“I’d like to congratulate all the businesses shortlisted and wish River Dart Country Park the best of luck ahead of the national final in February.” said Doug Gurr Amazon UK Country Manager
Awards co-founder Jemma Clifford said: “Anna and I are so proud to be hosting the fourth annual Rural Business Awards together with Amazon. When we started the Awards we wanted to shine a much-needed light on successful rural firms but the success of the RBAs is beyond what we ever imagined. We were blown away with the diversity of our entries this year so winning any of the categories is an extraordinary achievement – hearty congratulations to River Dart Country Park and all the other finalists.”
The Amazon Rural Business Awards is the brainchild of Leicestershire businesswomen Anna Price and Jemma Clifford, who wanted to showcase the wealth of entrepreneurial talent in rural areas of Britain – a sector of the economy they felt was all-too-often overlooked in favour of large, city-based firms.
The awards are organised by rural business for rural business, with winners in the 12 categories – ranging from Best Rural Start-up and Best Rural Diversification Project; through to Best Rural Professional Services Business and Best Rural Social Enterprise, Charity or Community Project – decided by an independent panel of judges drawn from the rural business sector, rural public sector agencies, and rural charitable organisations.
The Rural Business Awards is hosting a series of regional finals in the North, East, Midlands, South East, South West, Wales and Northern Ireland, throughout October and November 2019, ahead of the National Final next February.
To find out more about River Dart Country Park, go to www.riverdart.co.uk or to learn about the Rural Business Awards visit www.ruralbusinessawards.co.uk