A husband and wife team scooped the top prize at this year’s Kingston Business Awards, which saw Surbiton traders shine.

The cooking and service at The French Table won owners Eric and Sarah Guignard first place in the awards, which are sponsored by Barclays Business and organised by South London Business.

Mr Guignard, who trained in Paris and has worked at a number of Michelin star restaurants, said: “We love cooking and we love satisfying people. Business should be about pleasure and working alongside my wife and our great team certainly makes it a pleasure.”

The Surbiton restaurant, which also took the award for Best Medium Sized Business, was praised for their customer service, creation of jobs and excellent staff training.

Mrs Guignard, who runs the front of house, said: “It is wonderful to win this award after 10 years of being in business together. Eric is the businessman and the dynamic man behind the stove. I love working to make everyone who comes into the restaurant happy.”

The French Table was named as Best London Restaurant in the Good Food Guide 2010.

Businesses in Maple Road, Surbiton continued the winning streak with another two awards handed out at the ceremony at the Holiday Inn Kingston South on Thursday, November 24.

Maple Road Surbiton Farmers’ Market, which is held on the third Saturday every month, took the award for Commitment to the Community, having raised nearly £20,000 for community causes in two years.

Shoes at Last, a fashion boutique selling high-quality leather goods and a small collection of clothes, also took the award for Best Independent Retailer.

Meanwhile, The Antoinette Hotel in Kingston, which boasts 100 rooms and award-winning landscaped gardens, won Best Business for Customer Service.

The award for Kingston’s Favourite Business was scooped by The Terrace Eatery, which offers personalised dishes according to customer’s individual needs with fresh ingredients from Kingston’s apple market.

YMCA London South West, who has been serving the Kingston community since 1874, came top in the Best Training and Development category.

New Malden based Home Instead Senior Care beat stiff competition to win Best Small Business, sponsored by the Kingston Guardian.

The Mayor of Kingston, Councillor Patrick Codd, said: “We have, in Kingston, a remarkably good business sector which has changed dramatically over the years. When I first arrived here there were lots of factories but now we have an outstanding university, an enormous retail sector and a huge diversity of businesses across the board.

“The positive face of the borough comes through what the businesses represented at the Kingston Business Awards achieve and for that we are very grateful indeed.”

For more information visit kingstonbusinessawards.co.uk.