Oakham-based coffee roastery Two Chimps Coffee has swept the board at a local business awards ceremony, picking up three accolades.

Two Chimps Coffee won two silver awards for Hospitality Business of the Year and Rutland Business of the Year, along with a gold award for Service Excellence at the SME Leicestershire and Rutland Business finals.

It meant they were the most successful Rutland-based business at the awards. 

What are the SME Awards?

The SME awards recognise small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with fewer than 250 employees. There are 21 categories available for entry, each evaluated by a panel of up to four experts. These judges have been carefully chosen based on their expertise to assess the specific criteria for each category.

The SME awards welcomed businesses from both Rutland and Leicestershire, with hundreds of applications submitted for each category.

Two Chimps Coffee said they were 'honoured' to reach the finals, let alone win three awards.

The awards ceremony took place at Rutland Hall on 13 May, with 'head chimps' Andy and Laura representing the team.

Laura says: "We had such a fantastic time connecting with other local small businesses!

"That's one of the big reasons the SME Awards really stood out to us. We absolutely love that there are awards in place to specifically celebrate small businesses, and we're over the moon for our little team of seven to have won these amazing prizes!"

Andy added: "The awards ceremony was a great opportunity to connect with different teams, and we got to catch up with both familiar faces and meet some new ones.

"It was all about celebrating amazing SMEs from every kind of background. From breweries to accountants, you name it, they were there!"

Two Chimps is a carbon-neutral roastery, using recyclable materials for shipping, and providing customers with top quality single-origin specialty coffee roasted in small batches to ensure peak freshness.

Winning the Gold Award in the Service Excellence category means that Two Chimps has automatically qualified for the national finals, which will be held at the QEII Centre in Westminster on Friday 7 November. The team is thrilled to be in with a chance for a National Award and eagerly anticipates the event.

The upcoming months for Two Chimps are filled with other exciting developments, too.

Firstly, they are relocating to a more central location in Oakham, which is perfect for those who prefer to shop locally. They also have their sights set on pursuing additional awards, such as the Great Taste award, which focuses more on the coffee itself. 

In addition to these changes, Two Chimps will continue to enhance the customer experience, introduce new and exciting coffee options, and seek further opportunities to improve their sustainability efforts.