A family-run wedding caterers based in Llanbedr has won the prestigious title of Welsh Caterer of the Year in the first annual Welsh Hospitality Awards.

It was also a first award for Jane Peacegood and her business Prickly Pear - and all the sweeter because it came ‘completely out of the blue’.

Jane and husband Steve set up the business in 1999. It was nominated by one of their clients and placed on a shortlist of five.

Jane is a self-taught chef who started cooking professionally while she was at university - organising corporate catering events. More recently she provided fine dining for guests at the Perth-y-pia Bunkhouse at Llanbedr.

Since its launch at the turn of the century Prickly Pear has catered for weddings at venues as diverse as Welsh castles and an aircraft hangar.

“We only take on one wedding per weekend so that we can focus on making each client’s day as successful as possible,” Jane explained.

“We have built up an amazing staff team (myself plus one permanent, Simone, and 15 temporary), several of whom have been part of the team since the beginning.

“We not only work together but socialise and holiday together. The whole team is part of what makes this business so special and the staff are nearly always commented on in client testimonials.

“We always use top quality ingredients, sourcing our meat from FE Richards in Crickhowell (the best lamb and beef you will ever taste!), venison from the Welsh Venison Centre, milk and eggs from Coedwig, vegetables from PJ Jones, all local businesses.”

2016 has been a special year for Prickly Pear, with the award coming as the icing on the cake.

“We moved house in March and Steve custom-built a kitchen for the business, giving us a fantastic working environment,” said Jane.

“An area of garden is now devoted to growing herbs and edible flowers.”

Jane and Simone have also been mentoring Jane’s son Liam and his partner Jo in setting up their own wedding catering business, Salt and Caramel - helping them with menu design, creating tasty and beautifully presentable but ‘do-able’ dishes for large numbers, helping with logistics and teaching them about running a business.

* The new Welsh Hospitality awards scheme has been launched by the company behind The Food Awards Wales and the Welsh Hair and Beauty awards, Creative Oceanic. The presentations were made at a gala evening at the Mercure Hotel in Cardiff.