We are delighted that Our Bench has been named one of just three finalists for the Moore Barlow Award for Outstanding Customer Care in the 2026 New Forest Brilliance in Business Awards.
For us, simply reaching the final is something worth celebrating.
The New Forest Brilliance in Business Awards have been celebrating outstanding local businesses for 21 years. Entries are assessed by a panel of judges drawn from the New Forest Business Partnership and award sponsors.
The Outstanding Customer Care Award recognises businesses that understand the importance of their customers and can demonstrate how listening and responding to customer needs has helped their business grow and develop.
That makes this particular recognition very special to us.
What does outstanding customer care mean to us?
At Our Bench, customer care starts long before someone arrives.
Accessibility is personal. Two people who both use wheelchairs may need completely different things from their accommodation, so we try to understand what will actually work for each guest rather than simply saying our cottages are "accessible".
Sometimes that means arranging equipment, answering questions or helping someone choose the most suitable cottage.
Sometimes it means being honest when something will not work.
For us, good customer care is about giving people the information and confidence to make the right decision for themselves.
Listening has shaped Our Bench
Many of the facilities we provide today exist because guests told us what they needed.
One family explained that their son was becoming too heavy to safely manage using a shower chair. We worked with his mum to source an adult changing stretcher and installed the H-track ceiling hoist needed to use it.
Today those facilities in Bench Cottage help other families who need more than a standard accessible bathroom.
That is what listening means to us: being prepared to learn, adapt and make things better.
The small things matter too
Customer care is not always about equipment.
It can be helping arrange a wheelchair repair during a holiday, finding somewhere a whole family can eat together, remembering the equipment a returning guest prefers or simply having a homemade cake waiting when they arrive.
It comes back to one question:
What can we do to make this holiday work?
Why outstanding customer care matters
There are still relatively few holiday properties that can meet complex access needs. That makes good customer care even more important.
As one recent guest, Amy, wrote in her Google review:
“There are very few holiday lets that cater for those who have complex access needs... This means that Our Bench has the opportunity to be rubbish and still flourish. Thankfully it's completely the opposite and it is totally FABULOUS.”
Amy - Google Review 2026
Amy has now stayed with us three times, in two different cottages.
Her review goes on to mention the equipment, cleanliness, clear information, support before arrival, help with equipment hire and the little extras waiting for guests.
That is exactly why repeat bookings matter to us.
Around 49% of our bookings since 2020 have been made by returning guests. Some families have stayed with us more than twenty times.
For us, that is not simply repeat business. It is trust.
Guests are choosing to come back because they know the information will be accurate, the equipment they need will be ready, the cottage will be prepared properly and they can ask us for help when they need it.
That is what outstanding customer care means to us.
A holiday that feels like home.
Find out more
You can find out more about the New Forest Brilliance in Business Awards and the 2026 award categories on the New Forest Business Partnership website. The awards celebrate achievements across the New Forest business community, with the overall New Forest Business of the Year selected from the individual category winners.
- Read our guest reviews
- Discover our awards and professional partnerships
- Meet Helen and Matt
- Find the cottage that works for you
Last Updated: October 2026