The owners of a unique town centre café which won a business award seven months after opening were ‘ecstatic’ when their name was read out.

The Wine Hub, in The Strand, was named the best restaurant, café or bar of 2019 at the glitzy Exmouth Business Awards held at Woodbury Park last year.

Manager Sonia Varlakhov said they were surprised to win.

She said: "For us it meant all our hard work and perseverance through our first winter had paid off.

"To know that the people of Exmouth appreciated our unusual wine café idea and our fusion style food was a huge motivation boost to us.

"We believe it's because of our passion for food and drink that firstly motivates us to work the hard, long hours associated with this industry.

"Also (it) shows our customers we don't just do it for the money but also because we love it."

Winning the award last year has given the Wine Hub a boost with new customers recognising them from the awards.

Sonia said: "Exmouth has very loyal customers and to pull them away from their usual place was hard especially with an unusual concept and menu like ours.

"The award gave us a tag of recognition and so people came to give us a try because of it and not only the locals but visitors who just saw our award and thought 'this place can't be bad'."

Sonia said they believe in a Japanese philosophy called Kaizen where a business continuously looks to improve itself.

She said: "Hopefully this will give us a chance for the future awards.

"We're far from being pros but our recipe is just to work hard and always have that passion for what you do.

"Our love for what we do is what has driven us, and people will recognise the hard work for sure."

This year's awards, set to take place at Ocean on Friday, May 15, feature new categories recognising the best employer of the year and a local initiative which improves the town.

Visit the Exmouth Business Awards website for more information.