An inspirational artist who turned her passion into a multi-million-pound business has been named winner of a prestigious award that recognises business acumen combined with a social conscience.

In 2012 Lucy Pittaway became a professional artist working out of her spare room. Now she oversees a business with a multi-million-pound turnover that employs 58 people in seven galleries, a studio, and a framing and distribution centre across North Yorkshire and the Lake District.

She has been named winner of the Outstanding Business Growth category in the University of York Enterprise Awards which aim to inspire and encourage excellence across industries while fostering positive societal impact.

“The team and I are delighted to have won this award as it reflects the incredible hard work that our whole workforce has put into creating the business we are so proud of today,” said Lucy.

In such a challenging economic climate, winning an award such as this means so much. It does help motivate us to focus on achieving our planned growth in line with our business plan." said Lucy's husband and business partner, Neil.

“I hope it helps to highlight the importance of art to the economy of an area as well as the positive mental health benefits the creative arts can bring.”

Lucy has held the title of the UK Fine Art Trade Guild’s Most Popular Published Artist since 2018, and the response to one of her more recent paintings, a tribute to the felled Sycamore Gap tree, has been phenomenal. Over 3200 prints have been sold with Lucy making a donation from each sale to fund the creation of a new publicly accessible woodland on the Swinton Estate near Masham, North Yorkshire.

Lucy has also developed a range of free educational resources for schools to use from Key Stages 1-3 to enhance their art provision and encourage creativity in young people. In addition, Lucy and her team have committed to raising more than £10k this year for the Great North Air Ambulance Service.

“I live in North Yorkshire, as do many of my team, and the countryside, along with the Lakes, have been a constant inspiration, so it’s nice to be able to give something back,” said Lucy.