The Miners Arms Whitecroft is the Most Loved small business in The Forest of Dean according to a massive nationwide search run by TheBestOf to find the best local shops and companies in towns and cities across the UK.

The results of the 2 week campaign reveal that The Miners Arms based in Whitecroft is the most loved business after 266 people recommended it.

The Miners Arms in Whitecroft is owned by Mario and Karen Constantinides who bought the business in 2007  With its stylish interior and freshly cooked gastro style food, this well known bar and restaurant has a welcoming atmosphere and is run by a well trained team who provide excellent customer service with a smile.

Mario says “It is fantastic to have received so many testimonials and see how much our customers appreciate the great food, choice of real ales and ciders that we have on offer and the welcoming atmosphere.  All my staff are highly trained, so we can provide that ‘personal touch’ meeting all our customers’ needs. We hope to bring a real centre of the community feel to the area so that locals and visitors alike, feel welcome. ”

The 266 recommendations bestowed on the public house included praise for its good service’, ‘friendly atmosphere’ and ‘delicious food, not to mention great live music!’.

“Mario and Karen are running a superb business, and should be rightly proud – but to be honest what’s been underscored again and again in this campaign is just how many fantastic local businesses there are in The Forest of Dean today.  These business owners and their staff are the life-blood of our economy and it’s tremendous that they’ve been shown so much love. We’ve been absolutely blown away by the response from the people of The Forest of Dean who wrote 100s of glowing testimonials in support of local businesses”, says  Paul and Sharon from TheBestOf The Forest of Dean, a comprehensive directory of The Forest of Dean’s best local businesses.

The ‘14 Days of Love’ campaign from TheBestOf generated over 138,000 testimonials from the length and breadth of the country.  More than 30,000 businesses drawn from almost 400 towns and spanning every business type – from hairdressers, tattoo artists, fitness instructors and bridal stores through to bouncy castles accountants, architects, solicitors – even dentists and funeral directors – all received nominations from adoring customers.

Nigel Botterill CEO of TheBestOf commented “Small business owners have kept our economy going over the last 18 months.  They employ millions of people, provide services that we all use and can have a massive impact on our quality of life – whether it’s delivering to customers out of hours, calling on older customers to check they’re ok or simply looking after their customers brilliantly.  In fact in our research one in five people say there is a small local firm they just can’t live without.  We wanted to give people the chance to throw the spotlight on these superb small businesses – and they have!”

The Top 10 most loved small businesses in The Forest of Dean are:

A full list of the top 20 most loved businesses in  and its most active recommenders or ‘Lovers’ can be seen at www.thebestof.co.uk/loveometer.  The Top 100 most loved local businesses across the UK are also listed as well as top 5 businesses by category.

For more information about the campaign, to interview someone from TheBestOf, or a business in the top 20 contact:

Paul & Sharon James

T: 01594 560604

E: forestofdean@thebestof.co.uk

W: www.thebestof.co.uk/forestofdean