There we all were, enjoying our evening and trying to be nonchalant and blasé, whilst secretly hoping we had were about to be announced as an award winner. And we were! Special EFX has been recognised as the top Rural Family Business of the Year in the hotly contested 2011 Family Business Awards, and was presented with its very own award at the black tie awards ceremony held at Birmingham Town Hall 17th November.

For those of you who have visited EFX, you will understand why being named Best Rural Family Business last week means so much to us. We are a close knit team and the award recognised each of the 25 people working in the business and celebrates how our quirky mix of state -of -the– art technology, located at a Cotswold farm on the Ettington Park wooded estate, works so well for both us and our clients. We work with many motivation and promotion agencies, the publishing and finance sector and individual companies, organisations and events such as Google, Moto GP, British Comedy Awards, Football League and Alitalia.

"Winning the Rural Family Business Award means so much to us" says Peter Osborne, Special EFX's Managing Director, "We do what we do because it excites us and is hugely satisfying. We don't expect thanks but hope that our clients appreciate our efforts in providing a superb product and excellent service. To be recognised by the business community has been a great boost to morale across the company."

Melanie Osborne explained: “We design and produce thousands of awards each year and send them off around the world - it is marvellous to be on the receiving end for once and a fitting tribute to our dedicated team who do such a sterling job”.

Photo Caption: Martin Jinks (sponsor Roythornes), Melanie Osborne, Tara Osborne and Peter Osborne (all Special EFX), Annabel Prow (The Wilson Organisation)

As part of the judging process, the organisers visited us, assessed our business plan and talked to various members of staff …and patted the various company dogs that welcomed them in to the courtyard.