AN ORGANIC online retailer has been named the best in the country at a prestigious award ceremony.

BigGreenSmile, which has its headquarters in Amersham, was voted winner of the Best Independent Retailer prize at the Soil Association Organic Awards.

More than 11,000 people went online last month to cast their votes during the Association's Organic September.

Ben Wigley, co-founder of the Hill Avenue-based company, said: "We are absolutely delighted to be named Best Independent Retailer. We have a small and passionate team here at BigGreenSmile, so to be recognised by the Soil Association, and the public, for this award is a great honour and endorsement for all our hard work.

"We've been selling natural products since 2006, and have seen demand grow as it has become more and more mainstream - we can see a great future for organic beauty and look forward to being part of it."

Helen Browning, chief executive of the Soil Association, said: "This year’s Organic Awards were the most outstanding yet. As always, they provide a wonderful opportunity for such a wide range of businesses, who care so much about what they do, to tell the public how they are organic champions by showcasing their products and services and telling their story with such passion and creativity.

"I am delighted that for the first time this year the public got to have the final say on the overall winners. The level of engagement and interest was tremendous with over 11,000 votes and a huge amount of support on social media."