A FAMILY run farm shop and café has recently received funding to support changes at the award-winning business.

The Knitsley Farm Shop and Granary Café, which was voted Farm Shop of the Year in 2015, was awarded £19,672 of funding from the North East Rural Growth Network, who approved the investment from the Rural Business Growth Fund.

The farm shop has recently redesigned its main production kitchen, installed new weighing scales for the butchery and changed the seating layout so more people can sit outside in the courtyard.

Owner Rachael Jewson said: “The support of the grant funding from the North East Rural Grant Network and the delivery team from Arch has been invaluable for the continued growth of our business and our ability to create more jobs for local people.

“In just under eight years we’ve grown from a business employing six staff to a medium business employing 46 local people.

“This grant has enabled us to create another two jobs straight away.”

The North East Rural Growth Network is designed to support small rural businesses with capital investment projects.