Cumbrian holiday letting company Sally’s Cottages has been shortlisted in The Small Awards, which celebrates small businesses in the UK.

Competing in the category of Digital Star, the family-run company will be judged on use of digital channels to engage customers, innovation in web design and functionality, and growth in audience.

It’s a suitable category for the organisation, which has over 500,000 followers on its Facebook page and more than 37,000 fans across other platforms including Instagram and Twitter.

Sally Fielding, owner and founder, said::“Social media is really important to us because it allows us to speak to our customers and share with each other a mutual love of the Lake District.

"We’ve found that people don’t want to just buy, buy, buy, but like to chat and see more of the Lake District, too, and social media is a great way to reach out to people in this way.”

The awards will also look at the design of Sally’s Cottages website and how well it works for modern-day audiences.

Sally added: “We believe that customer service is number one and we work hard to make sure our guests and owners know that they can get quick and helpful advice and support from us. We have a really fabulous team of staff and freelancers who make this possible.”

She set up Sally’s Cottages 16 years ago. The company is now one of the largest independent holiday cottage letting agency in the Lake District. Award winners will be announced at a ceremony next month.