Cartmell Shepherd, key partner of The Family Business Network have been shortlisted for a prestigious award and have spoken of their delight after learning they were among more than 200 businesses to enter.

As one of the county’s leading law firms, Cartmell Shepherd is one of three businesses which will battle it out in the Best Professional Services category of the in-Cumbria Business Awards.

A gala awards night hosted by BBC favourite Jeremy Vine will be held at The Halston in Carlisle on November 15, where 15 categories will be contested.

Peter Stafford, managing director of Cartmells, said: “There’s no doubt there is a great deal of prestige attached to these awards, so to be shortlisted is fantastic news.  I am so proud of the team at Cartmells and what we achieve across our six offices in Cumbria and Northumberland. Making the shortlist is recognition of the huge effort they make.  We are up against some very tough competition in our category, and really look forward to welcoming the panel of judges into our offices to share with them the work Cartmells does for its clients and in the wider communities we serve.”

The Cartmell Shepherd brand is well-known across Cumbria – and beyond – for its work in the areas of family business, agriculture and agribusiness, commercial property, employment and commercial law, wills, probate and dispute resolution.

The company’s origins emanate from Little & Co which was formed in the early 19^th century and became Reed, Graham & Little in 1926.

In 1965 it merged into Little & Shepherd, which was formed from Reed, Graham & Little and Blaymire & Shepherd, becoming Cartmell Shepherd in 1989 following a merger with Cartmell, Mawson and Main.

Luke Dicicco is the editor of in-Cumbria magazine. He said: “We have been bowled over by the response from businesses to this year’s in-Cumbria Business Awards.

“It is clear from the effort put in and high quality of applications that business people really value the prestige attached to the awards.  Shortlisting was both inspiring and really tough. It was abundantly clear that the county’s businesses are in great health and doing fantastic things, whether that is in their day-to-day operations, a creative marketing strategy or the work they are doing to support their local community.  A number of categories received a huge response, and in the vast majority of cases, we had entries that missed the shortlist by a whisker.  We set the bar extremely high, and in the case of two categories only picked the very best of the bunch.  We’re now starting what promises to be a challenging but fun period of judging. I can’t say I envy our expert panel of judges as they begin their travels around the county, but I know we’re in extremely safe hands given their huge experience in business.”