The winners of the first Dorchester and Poundbury Business Awards have been announced.

Businesses were praised and awarded in a ceremony at Minterne House on Thursday, June 24.

Entries for the awards were 80 per cent higher than expected, with a split of roughly 50/50 between Dorchester and Poundbury.

The winners were:

• Arts, Crafts and Artisans - Goldcrest Jewellers

• Café/Pub/Hospitality - Bean on The Green

• Community Support - The Thimble Inn

• Customer/Client Service - Jurassic Meats

• Employer of the Year - Porter Dodson

• Green Business - Medusa Apothecary

• Health, Beauty and Fitness - Spike Fitness

• Independent Business - Bonjour Café

• Innovation in Business - Key Digital

• Mental Health in the Workplace - RiskSTOP

• New Business of the Year - The Soap Coach

• Retail Business Award - The Dorset Wine Company

• Rising Star - Rosie Lees

• Service Provider - Meraki

• SME Business of the Year - Rebuild Cost Assessment

• Overall Business of the Year - Gold Crest Jewellers

Nigel Reeve, of awards organiser Marketing West, said: "We originally planned the awards for April, but delayed until after the initial easing of restrictions in May. We strictly adhered to all guidelines with just 50 per cent capacity, so to reach as many as possible we streamed the awards live. Viewings to the streaming and subsequent video look like finishing at over 300 people in addition to those at the venue.

"The feedback from those at the awards has been fantastic. Even within restrictions, people commented how good it was to be able to be in the company of other businesses again."

You can watch the awards ceremony at the top of this page.

Don't forget to sign up to our newsletter below!

You can submit your own news straight to Dorchester Nub News by using the 'Nub It' button on our home page. This can also be done for events on our What's On page and businesses, groups and organisations on our Local Listings page , also by using the 'Nub It' button.

Please like and follow our online newspaper on your favourite social media channel. You can find us @DorchesterNubNews on Facebook and @DorchesterNub Twitter.