A FLEDGLING Taunton business aiming to change the way we shop has been shortlisted for a top regional award - just weeks after it opened.

My Carbon Coach, which specialises in sustainable living, has been nominated in the regional finals for Best New Lifestyle Start-Up in the Muddy Stilettos awards.

Businesses are nominated by customers and supporters. Voting finishes on Wednesday, June 15, with the results announced on Tuesday, June 21.

Owner Tim Walker said: “It was such a surprise and an honour to find out that I had been nominated for this award.

"In the few months that my little eco shop has been open on Station Road, Taunton, I’ve had nothing but wonderful customers, many of whom are regulars, which is always so heartening as a shopkeeper as it means you’re getting it right and offering a service and a product that people need and love.”

The nationwide Muddy Stiletto Awards are held annually and split into regions, with ours covering Dorset, Somerset and Bristol which makes Tim’s achievement of reaching the final five of the Best New Lifestyle Start-Up category all the more impressive.

Other nominees in the same category celebrating new businesses include a restaurant in Bristol and a pottery shop in Frome.

Taunton is only represented a small number of times in the awards overall, with one business in the running for Best Bridal Store, and another nominated for Best Children’s Business, alongside Tim and his sustainable living shop.

He added: “There is an already large community of people in Taunton who are doing what they can for our planet, and that number is growing all the time.

"That’s where I feel that shops like mine are vital.

"They help to raise awareness and visibility that there is a way to shop without bringing so much plastic into our lives.”

Since opening at the start of March this year, My Carbon Coach has kept growing and developing, from the introduction of the Faith In Nature refill station, where you can take along your own bottles to refill with shampoos, body washes, hand soaps and much more, through to the recent addition of takeaway plant-based hot drinks where customers are asked to supply their own reusable cup, or to buy one from Tim with the bonus of a free drink included.