STAFF from a Gourock gift shop are proud as punch after reaching the finals of the Renfrewshire Business Awards.

Treasured on Cardwell Road was nominated by members of the public for the Best Independent Retailer category.

Owner Coleen Hill only found out about the competition after a call from employee Jill Purvis, who opened the letter.

She said: “I was off and Jill opened the mail and phoned me.

"We still don’t but we are delighted to be recognised in this way.

“Our customer base is very much local and we have regular customers who come in frequently.

"It’s lovely to know that we have their support and that they like us.

“We work hard to keep the store fresh and source unique products locally, so to know that people appreciate the effort is nice.”

The staff have been invited along to the awards ceremony and dinner at the Glynhill Hotel on Sunday December 2.

Coleen said: “We are quite excited and looking forward to going along.

"It is more special because it is the customers who have voted for us.”

Staff at Treasured pride themselves on providing a unique service for their customers.

Coleen said: “Our customers are great.

"We are just a small business and sometimes I wonder how we manage but the customers are fantastic.”

You can vote for Treasured as Best Independent Retailer by visiting http://www.scotlandsbusinessawards.co.uk/renfrewshire

The deadline is November 30.