A Kilmarnock florist has been nominated for a national award.
Flowers by Karen, based in Bank Street, has been shortlisted for the British Florist Association's annual awards.
The nomination comes after the top team celebrated its 20th anniversary.
Owner Karen Lindsay revealed how challenging the last couple of years have been due to the pandemic and said: "We won the title in 2019 but we couldn't really make the most of it because Covid hit not long after.
"We'd love to bring the title back to the town and it would be amazing to win again, especially as we're celebrating our 20th anniversary. We had a big party in July to celebrate 20 years in business. We had opened in January but held off to have a party in the summer.
"During Covid, we were really busy. A lot of people used us to send gifts to each other and even though I had furloughed my staff, I was working to help offer flowers to funeral service.
"It was heartbreaking having so many people calling me, crying and upset because they were struggling to get flowers for their loved ones' services.
"And our wedding clients were pushed, we're still catching up with them. We weren't taking on new clients because we wanted to make sure our existing clients were being taken care of first."
Karen added: "It has been very tricky indeed but the team of eight women who work with me are incredible and they deserve this win.
"All of the girls work really hard and to win a national title would be fantastic."
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