UK-based Malvern Saddle Company, which specialises in producing traditional side saddles, has won the Midlands regional heat of the Countryside Alliance Best Rural Retailer Competition. The company will now be put forward for the national final in the Daily Telegraph Best Traditional Skills category.

Co-founder of the company Robert Jenkins travels across the country to measure horses for side saddles and then makes each saddle from British leather in his Malvern workshop. The company also produces leather dog leads and sheepskin-lined leather bonnet straps for locally-based Morgan sports cars, as well as restoring side saddles and makes astride saddles, bridlework and driving harnesses

The Best Rural Retailer Competition is a Countryside Alliance initiative designed to support and promote rural communities. The national winners will be announced at a House of Lords reception in London in February.