FAMILY-OWNED business, Moo Free Chocolates, based in Holsworthy, was visited by The Lord Lieutenant of Devon on Tuesday, November 29 and was presented with The Queen’s Award For Enterprise on behalf of her majesty.

Other dignitaries in attendance included The High Sherriff of Devon and the Mayor of Holsworthy.

The Queen’s Award for Enterprise is recognised as the UK’s highest accolade for business success and recognises outstanding achievement by UK businesses in the areas of innovation, international trade, and sustainable development.

Mike Jessop, co-founder of Moo Free with his wife Andrea, said: “It is a great honour to be recognised through such a prestigious award, and I would like to applaud the efforts and dedication of our wonderful staff.

“My wife and I only launched the company six years ago and initially funded it by re-mortgaging our house — twice. Now we export over 40% of what we manufacture and have grown by 200% year on year.

“This is all still a little surreal for us, but we are very thankful that all of our hard work has paid off and that our business has been recognised at such a high level.”

But don’t worry if you didn’t know that Holsworthy had a chocolate factory, because they have only been there for just over a year.

They do however already employ over 17 local members of staff and even after such a short period, they have also run out of space in their current factory and are looking to open a second one within the next 12 months.

You can check out Moo Free’s chocolates in the free-from section of the local Waitrose in the town or in many other supermarkets and independent stores around the UK.

Take a look at Moo Free’s website to find out more about them at www.moofreechocolates.com