AN equestrian store near York has won a prestigious business award.

The Ride-Away store, in Sutton-on-the-Forest, won the SEIB Retailer of the Year in the Equestrian Retail Store category at British Equestrian Trade Association’s (BETA) 2019 Business Awards.

The awards were presented to companies and individuals judged to have made outstanding contributions to the trade.

One of the nominators described Ride-Away as having “excellent product choice and customer service, a clean and organised store, with nothing ever too much trouble”.

A judge said: “The advice provided by an assistant was some of the best we received during the judging process and we particularly liked the thoughtful touches such as a tub of Quality Street left on the counter for customers.”

The store was initially listed through customer recommendations, before making it onto a shortlist and then being “secret shopped” by a judge in December.

This put it among six nominees in the category, and then the award winners were announced during BETA’s annual Gala Dinner, at the National Motorcycle Museum, near Birmingham, last week.

Hayden Tuck of the store said: “It was absolutely fantastic. We’ve got a great team round us here and to be picked as the best store in the country was really good.”

Ride-Away, formerly owned by Pets at Home, was taken over last year by a company called Internet Fusion, a group of equestrian and outdoors sports retailers.

During the Business Awards ceremony, a BETA raffle was held and raised £1,144 for the Riding for the Disabled Association.