STAFF at a Highbridge company are celebrating after being shortlisted for a prestigious award.

Gear Change Ltd has been shortlisted for the Amazon Rural Business Award after being in business for just one year.

The business, which is based in East Brent, was formed in 2018 by Jo Roberts who teamed up with businessman Paul Ham after staff from a previous firm were made redundant.

Speaking about the awards Jo Roberts, director at Gear Change Ltd, said: “We wanted to put ourselves on the map and also give our employees the credit they deserve and thought that entering the Rural Business awards would achieve this for us.

"We never really expected to win as our line of business is totally different to others that entered but we are over the moon to be awarded best start up business in the South West and believe that this is a great platform to help continue the growth of the business”.

Gear Change Ltd will now go on to represent The South West at the national final in February 2020 in Manchester.

Now in its fifth year, the Rural Business Awards is the only UK-wide pr

gramme dedicated to showcasing the success of rural businesses. It is run in partnership with Amazon.

Dough Gurr Amazon UK Country Manager said: “I’d like to congratulate all the businesses shortlisted and wish Gear Change Ltd the best of luck ahead of the national final in February

And 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 Gear Change Ltd and all the other finalists.”