AN ANIMAL bedding firm is in the running for a trio of awards including a national accolade for the best small business in the whole of the UK.

Platts Animal Bedding, based on Llay Industrial Estate, Wrexham, is a finalist in the Small Business of the Year category at the British Chamber of Commerce’s 2019 Business Awards.

The winners will be announced at a special ceremony on November 28 at the prestigious Tobacco Dock in east London and Platts are the only Welsh firm to make the category shortlist.

The news comes after they have just found out they are also shortlisted for Business of the Year and Young Person/Apprentice of the Year awards at the West Cheshire and North Wales Chamber of Commerce awards, which take place just under a fortnight before at Chester Racecourse.

Caroline Thedens is managing director of Platts Animal Bedding, which was started by her parents Robert and Christine from their farm in Marford more than 45 years ago.

The company specialises in cattle bedding, in particular for the dairy farm market, but also supplies equine and poultry bedding too.

Caroline said: “To be flying the flag for Wales in the small business category at the chamber’s national awards is an honour in itself and I am thrilled for the whole team to have even got this far.

“We are still very much a family-run firm and getting to where we are has been down to the hard work and dedication of our 58-strong workforce and I think we all feel this has been a tremendous achievement to even make the shortlist.

“I think the judges were probably impressed by the ethos, growth and development of Platts. We take a surplus wood product and recycle it which is a service in itself but we go another important step further and turn it into a top quality product for our customers which makes the whole business model very impressive in terms of sustainability.”

Caroline added she was also very proud of her firm’s young apprentice Ethan McDermott, 18, of Pentre Maelor who was up for his own award at the regional chamber of commerce finals.