Torre Cider in Washford has reached the finals of the Federation of Small Businesses awards.

The family run cider farm in Washford has been shortlisted in the sustainable small business South West category.

The business has previously won silver and gold awards at the Bath and West Cider Championships, and made it to the final of the Bristol Bath and Somerset Tourism Awards.

The farm is owned by Neil Freeman and his wife Gemma.

Speaking to the West Somerset Free Press Neil spoke about the importance of sustainability. He said: "I'm really passionate about sustainability. We're very carbon positive, better than carbon neutral."

The trees on the Torre Cider farm were said to put 100 metric tonnes of oxygen into the atmosphere annually. "It's incredible what the trees do." Neil said.

Neil and Gemma purchased the farm in 2015. Since then a series of renovations and upgrades have been carried out, and remain ongoing.

Neil said: "We've introduced new everything. We've improved all the infrastructure we had, we're doing glamping in the orchard, introduced new cider making equipment and a children's play area."

There was a keen focus on making the venue family friendly. Last Christmas Torre Cider hosted a 'Farmer Christmas' event, in which Santa was said to have driven around the farm on a tractor.

Neil added: "We're building an indoor area, a visitor attraction we can use to host children's parties, learning groups or Christmas markets potentially."

Federation of Small Businesses South West Regional Chairman, Lee Nathan, said that the standard of entries was ‘exceptional’ and that he expected some fantastic winners to be unveiled at the regional final. 

This year the contest has received a record-breaking number of entries, with Somerset securing the second highest number of nominations in the region. 

The awards are set to conclude at a final in Weston-Super-Mare in early March.