An Irvine restaurant has been crowned the best in Ayrshire.
Niche, in the town's harbourside, was bestowed with the honour at the Ayrshire Retail Business Awards last week.
The popular eaterie now goes forward to the Scottish Business Awards finals in November.
General manager Kenny Hepburn, 45, told Ayrshire Live the triumph came as a complete shock to him and his 18-strong team.
He said: "We found out at the start of the year we had been nominated but didn't hear anything for months and assumed we hadn't made the final cut.
"We were just delighted to be involved to be honest and even when the invite for the awards night came through, winning was the last thing on our minds.
"I didn't even prepare a speech!
"We're just a wee 15-tables restaurant so to win this award is just amazing."
Kenny took over as general manager in January 2020 after 10 years working for restaurant giants Buzzworks and reckons the acclaim is testament to the hard work and dedication of staff.
He said: "I was used to very polished restaurants with everything to the highest spec so to come to a wee independent place and achieve what we have as a team is super-satisfying.
"The staff here are gold standard, they really are. It's a team full of heavy hitters.
"We pride ourselves on working hard and delivering excellence and the feedback we get from customers is that people are blown away by the energy the staff have."
Kenny says he's especially proud of the success given the obstacles the Covid pandemic has thrown at businesses over the last two-and-a-half years.
He added: "I took over just a few months before the pandemic broke out and we were one of the first to re-open as a takeaway.
"It was a tough time for everyone and we never took anything for granted."
Kenny insists he's not ready to entertain any thoughts of Niche being crowned Scotland's restaurant of the year.
"What will be, will be," he added. "We're just happy to bask in our moment of glory for now!"
Kenny wasn't the only member of his family to win an award on the night.
His sister Siobhan, who runs Curves gym in Irvine, was celebrating too after scooping The Best Fitness Business gong.
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