Three Cumbrian firms have collected prizes at the national Family Business of the Year Awards.

Hawkshead Relish Company, which is based in the Lake District town it is named after, won in the small family business category.

The Churchmouse at Barbon, which is in Barbon, near Kirkby Lonsdale, took home the hotel and leisure prize.

Logistics firm Wm Armstrong, based in Longtown, were crowned the best family run transport and logistics business in the country and were also runners-up as overall winners which went to Manchester's HMG Paints.

Maria Whitehead, who runs the relish company with her husband Mark and daughters Abbie and Izzy, said: "We were absolutely thrilled to bits. I very much believe that family values are the most are the most important thing to us.

The Whiteheads formed the company in 1999, it grew out condiment making made for the restaurant they owned at the time.

Following the foot and mouth outbreak in 2001 and the hit that business took as tourists stopped visiting the Lake District, they expanded the condiment operation and now produce 6,000 jars a day, with more than 150 different products, and export to 35 different countries.

The total number of staff they employ varies between 26-28.

Mrs Whitehead said: "Foot and mouth really got us into going into the making of relish and chutney. Prior to that it was a bit of a sideline, it was not the main part of the business."

"Everything was tied up in the business," she added.

"If the banks had foreclosed we would have lost everything."

She added that the company would make heavy use of the award win in its marketing strategy and felt it would help them enormously.

Other nominees from Cumbria included confectionery firm Grasmere Gingerbread and Sally's Cottages, of Keswick.

Mrs Whitehead was pleased to see such a large selection of businesses represented at the event.

"It is absolutely huge for Cumbria," she said.

"There were so many businesses shortlisted from across the county."

She hopes that this will lead to more people paying attention to the county's business scene.

The Churchmouse is a village shop and restaurant in South Lakeland and has been owned by Jules and John Natlacen (corr) since 2013.

The husband and wife team are originally from Manchester and moved to Cumbria in 2002 and took over what was a struggling shop to give "Barbon the shop it deserved".

Mrs Natlacen said: "We were absolutely thrilled. We went down there (London, where the awards were presented) with no expectations so we were pleasantly surprised."

The winning three were joined in London by ten other of the regions family business owners as 13 Cumbrian businesses made it to the national finals. Zeffirellis & Fellinis, of Ambleside, Sally’s Cottages, of Keswick, PHX Training, headquartered in Kendaly, Grasmere Gingerbread, Bells of Lazonby, GM & SM Marrs, of Wigton, Lakes Cottage Holidays, of Keswick, Reays Coaches, of Wigton, JMP Foodservices, of Sedbergh and JB Banks of Cockermouth were all acknowledged as finalists in the nationals.

This strong showing was down to the Cumbria Family Business Awards' organisers Sophia Newton, Janett Walker and Sue Coulson arranging that finalists could link into the national awards if they wanted to.

The Cumbria Family Business Awards will be opening for applications this October following both local and now national success stories for entrants.

Sue Coulson, who sponsored the north category of the national awards, said: "We were delighted to see 13 of our finalists representing the county on a national stage. For three of them to pick up awards is fantastic news for them and the vitally important family business sector as a whole.

"It also showed that the Cumbria Family Business Awards have done their job of cementing our regions businesses on a national stage"