An outdoor education centre has scooped the National Champion title at the Rural Business Awards National Final.

Forest and Beach, based in Beeson, was named Best Rural Recreational or Outdoor Pursuits Business at the national final of the Rural Business Awards which took place Droitwich Spa, near Birmingham.

The national win follows the company’s triumph at the regional heats of the Rural Business Awards last year.

Forest and Beach was established in 2013 by Pete and Andrea Moore, both of whom grew up in the South Hams.

The outdoor education centre has a focus of connecting children and adults with nature and the outdoors.

The company provides local schools with forest school and residential visits, school holiday experiences for locals and visitors to the area as well as forest school birthday parties and venue hire.

Managing director Pete said: “This is a huge achievement for our small company, I gave up a teaching job five years ago after 18 years in the classroom to set up FaB along with my wife Andrea who is also a teacher.

“For Forest and Beach to win this accolade is just unbelievable, we were really thrilled just to have been shortlisted for the awards but to have then won the south west region and go on to become the National Champion in our category is just amazing.

“Through our sessions, children and adults develop connections to nature and the outdoors and learn about the importance of the conservation of the natural, rural environment. We are so proud of the work we do, and are incredibly pleased that the Rural Business Awards have recognised its importance.

“We were by far the smallest company in our category, up against some fantastic businesses.”

Director Andrea said: “The National Final was a lovely evening with Jules Hudson presenter of Escape to the Country and Countryfile comparing. It was lovely to see the all the varied UK rural businesses at the finals.

“We were really not expecting to win at all and it was amazing when FaB was called out as the national winner. The support and well wishing on our social media channels has been huge and we can’t thank our supporters enough.

“We knew we were representing Devon and the South Hams and in the end we were the only winners from Devon.”

Pete added: “We are looking forward to the next few years as we have some exciting plans for Forest and Beach.”

The outdoor experience company based in Beeson had previously been announced as south west regional winner in October last year, allowing it to progress to the National Final where all the other regional winners gathered to see who would be crowned champion in each category.