St Cuthbert’s House has been named as a finalist in the Guest Accommodation category of the prestigious VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2014.

As a finalist St Cuthbert’s House now goes forward to the glittering Awards Ceremony which is being held on Monday 12 May 2014 at Cheltenham Racecourse in Gloucestershire.

Owners Jeff & Jill Sutheran will have to wait until the Awards Ceremony to find out which award they will receive – but as finalists are guaranteed to receive either a Gold, Silver, Bronze or Highly Commended Award.

James Berresford, Chief Executive of VisitEngland said “We receive hundreds of applications each year, of an extremely high standard, so it is a tremendous achievement for St Cuthbert’s House to be named as a finalist and to represent the top five in their category in England.”

After a long and painstaking restoration and conversion of the disused church - which carefully integrated many original features like the pulpit and communion table - the business opened seven years ago, providing high-quality guest accommodation in six ensuite bedrooms. It has built a strong reputation, bolstered by its 5-star grading from VisitBritain and recommendations on peer-review websites like Tripadvisor.

Owner Jill Sutheran said: “It’s a real honour for us to be selected as a finalist for the National Award. There are some fantastic tourism businesses from around the whole country in the mix, and to be named amongst the top five is just wonderful. It’s good for our business of course, but we’re also pleased to be talking about the Northumberland coast as a wonderful place to visit!”