A Kendal-born woman has been named one of the top exporters in the North East.

Mandy Bainbridge scooped the new exporter prize in the North East Export Awards, run by the North East Chamber of Commerce and UK Trade and Investment.

Mandy and her husband Marcus run a farm at Egglestone, near Barnard Castle, and launched a new business, Colliewobbles, in the wake of foot-and-mouth two years ago.

They got the idea for the venture, which sells a range of gifts for Border Collie and dog lovers on the internet, while competing in agility and flyball shows with their sheepdogs.

They spotted a gap in the market for gifts for dog lovers, took a stand selling products at an agility show and then launched the business with the help of a rural recovery grant from Defra, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

"We were badly affected by foot-and-mouth with the disease coming literally to our back door," recalled Mandy, a former Kirkbie Kendal School pupil whose parents, Bruce and Pauline Bingham, still live in Kendal.

While the couple were able to keep their sheep, a ban on animal movements meant there was no money coming in.

"We knew we had to think of something else, and one thing we had noticed on our travels to agility/flyball shows was that there were a lot of stands selling dog leads, bowls etc, but not a lot of gifts for people who liked dogs.

"Also, because Border Collies are the best dogs in these sports and we have working Border Collies, we were often asked for advice about the breed."

Building up the business from scratch, they used the Defra cash to launch a website, www.colliewobbles.com and now sell more than 100 products, including Chocolate Sheep Droppings made by Kendal-based Wilsons A second website, www.sheepdogshop.co.uk, has followed, specialising in items for working sheep dogs, and they also run fun, educational days on their farm for Border Collie owners.

"Through the website, we have been able to reach many overseas countries, and as they look to Britain for advice on the Border Collie as we developed the breed 100 years ago, we are now the one-stop Border Collie shop for items and advice," said Mandy.

The business now has both wholesale and retail sales in Japan and the United States, as well as closer to home.

After leaving Kirkbie Kendal, she worked for Furmanite International for seven years and then at Windermere Aquatic and Peter Hall and Son of Staveley before marrying her husband in 1996 and moving to his farm at Eggleston.