AMount Gambier bakery has received national recognition at the 2022 Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards.

The OK Pie Shop was announced the winners of the ‘Bakery/Cake Business’ category from 14 other nominations.

Shop owners Allison and Dewain Barrett were presented with the honour at an awards night in Sydney.

“It was extremely overwhelming, exciting obviously, but very, very overwhelming,” Mrs Barrett said.

“We were shocked because we did not go with any intentions of coming away with a win with the other 14 bakeries that were listed, so it was a huge shock.

“It is nice that a country business has been nationally recognised, businesses all over Australia could have applied for this.”

Mrs Barrett said the atmosphere at the awards night was incredible and more than 1000 people were in attendance.

“The night had guest celebrity singers, dancers, Jessica Rowe was the compère for the night,” she said.

“It was just a huge experience, win or lose it was the best experience just to be there.”

Mrs Barrett said she was proud of the hard-working OK Pie Shop Staff, who were excited and thrilled they received the award.

“We could not do it without our staff,” she said.

“It is not a Dewain and Allison award, it definitely is very, very driven by our staff, they are absolutely amazing.”

The Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards recognise women in business and those in a 50% joint partnership in business.

Mrs Barrett said the award itself was based on the longevity and success of the business and was an acknowledgment of what the business did for the community.

“It is recognition for the hard work that you actually put in,” she said.

“Having that recognised is really nice for both us and all of our staff.

“It is not just my award, it is not just mine and Dewain’s award, it belongs to the shop and everybody puts into that, so it is everybody’s recognition.”