Ceredigion estate agent Cardigan Bay Properties has been recognised as one of the top start-ups in the UK, beating competition from across Wales to win the 2023 Rural StartUp of the Year Award.

The StartUp Awards were established in 2022 to highlight the success of startups across nine UK nations and regions, and to celebrate the achievements of entrepreneurs in all sectors of the economy.

Cardigan Bay Properties was started in 2021 by local mums Helen Worrall and Tania Dutnell, with a commitment to provide a professional, ‘customer first’ service for both property buyers and sellers – something which can be seen across their reviews, all of which are five-star.

The success of their approach has seen the company double its market share over the last 12 months, as well as achieve an average sales exchange time frame of just 14 weeks – the national average is 19 to 20 weeks).

The company also won Start-Up of the Year at the prestigious Welsh FSB Awards earlier this year.

Commenting on their awards success, Tania Dutnell said: “We can’t quite believe the success we’re achieving so soon after our launch, and this latest award is recognition of all the hard work we’ve put into creating an estate agency that delivers a level of customer service that we are so proud of.

“In launching Cardigan Bay Properties we made a commitment to be open, honest and transparent, using our local knowledge and market expertise to do things in the very best way for our clients.

“We’re already seeing the results, with clients recommending us to others and reviews that reinforce our decision to do things differently.”

The Wales final was held at Depot in Cardiff and saw 35 different awards given out to new businesses in categories such as Graduate StartUp of the Year, Business to Business Services StartUp of the Year and Social Enterprise StartUp of the Year.