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CEREDIGION COUPLE SCOOP TOP PRIZE IN NATIONAL BUSINESS HERO AWARDS |
A Ceredigion couple, who triumphed over personal adversity to successfully establish their own business, have been named Gold Winners of the 2008 Barclays Trading Places Awards.
Kevin Sweet (39) and Nikki Crewes-Sweet (40), who started Toloja Orchards three years ago, were presented with a cheque for £10,000, courtesy of Barclays, at a black tie dinner at the Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square, London. Kevin and Nikki also walked away with £3,400 worth of Microsoft desktop and server software.
In 1991 Nikki and Kevin both enjoyed full-time employment in the construction industry and were looking forward to getting married. However, the excitement of their wedding was short-lived as Nikki was made redundant just before they tied the knot.
Soon after, Kevin was also made redundant and subsequently went onto lose his job three times in the following three years each time at Christmas. The newlyweds continued struggle against unemployment throughout the early part of their marriage and even had to sell their wedding gifts to make ends meet.
Unfortunately, things went from bad to worse when they were evicted from their home, which had been in Kevin’s family for over 60 years.
In 2002 Kevin and Nikki’s luck changed when they moved to a farm in the Welsh countryside. A chance suggestion by Kevin prompted them to grow an orchard on their new land, which inspired them to start a cidery. But this was somewhat short-lived when Kevin fell ill with a heart problem resulting in emergency life saving surgery; his journey to recovery continues to be a long one.
Finally, their dream became a reality when they launched Toloja Orchards in 2005 named after their three children (Tom, Lottie & James). Kevin and Nikki’s natural cider has been a sell-out success and has already taken home the Gold, Silver and Bronze prizes in the Welsh Perry & Cider Championships, as well as three commendations in the True Taste of Wales Awards.
The couple are now developing the Toloja Orchards brand and the variety of products in production on their farm. In the future they also hope to open a farm shop and expand to online sales.
John Davis, Barclays Marketing Director for Local Business and a judge on the panel, said: "The caliber of this year's entries was exceptional but the judges unanimously agreed that Toloja Orchards shone out as an outstanding business that has thrived despite what seemed like impossible odds.
“All of us congratulate Kevin and Nikki on being named the Gold Winners in this year’s Barclays Trading Places Awards and we hope their story will inspire other budding entrepreneurs, who face similar difficulties in there private lives, to come forward and turn their own business dreams into reality."
The government backed Awards, now in their fourth year, are supported by Jobcentre Plus, The Prince's Trust, the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), The National Federation of Enterprise Agencies (NFEA) and Microsoft.
The judging panel included Big Issue founder and editor-in-chief John Bird and Ian King, Business Editor of The Sun, Sophie Beesley of The Prince's Trust; Eileen Thomson of Jobcentre Plus; Ann Carter-Gray of BERR; Julian Price of Microsoft, George Derbyshire of the NFEA and Jane Fletcher of Leonard Cheshire Disability.
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