LANCASHIRE horse health entrepreneur Hannah Wild was congratulated recently by her local MP Ben Wallace as she moved her fast-growing internet business to bigger premises.

Mr Wallace, who represents Preston North, was VIP guest at the official opening in the village of Great Eccleston, N Lancs, of Hannah's new headquarters for Supplement Solutions.

Based previously in nearby Scorton, Hannah's seven-year-old year enterprise supplies horse lovers in Britain and overseas via the internet with dietary supplements and care products to promote good equine health.

As part of the opening ceremonies, Ben Wallace nailed a commemorative lucky horseshoe into the wall of the building which is located just off the high street in the centre of the village.

At around 4,000 square feet, the new premises are 10 times larger than her former business base, and include space for a call centre, warehousing, mail order processing and despatch facilities.

The business – which trades almost entirely on-line – currently employs four people, all of whom are as keen on horses as Hannah who is both a keen rider and teacher.

A resident of Cockerham near Lancaster, Hannah began her business at home on a laptop after working as technical manager for an animal supplements firm in Lytham.

She knew from the calls the company received that many horse owners had difficulty sourcing supplements to keep their animals in tip-top condition.

So Hannah decided to quit her promising career, and to devote a period of research into what supplements were the most effective for treating different problems suffered by horses.

Business soon began to take off, and after three years she was able to lease the former post office in Scorton and to begin employing staff.

Her enterprise soon began receiving various awards, starting in 2007 with the Young Entrepreneur of the Year accolade from Business Link Lancashire and the Lancashire Chamber of Commerce.

Other honours included, this year, first prize in the 2011 British Equestrian Trade Association (BETA) Business Awards, based on the votes of customers and secret shoppers.

Hannah says her new premises in The Weind will allow for continued expansion over the coming years, and that she is delighted to have maintained a village base for her business:

"Being from rural Lancashire myself, I've always wanted to keep the business in the countryside and to support local services and employment as much as possible," said Hannah.

"The wonderful thing about the internet is that there's no advantage in having city centre premises, which means me and my staff can work hard and still enjoy a great quality of life.

"We invest a lot of time, effort and resources into ensuring that our digital presence is a match for many other much bigger companies involved with internet marketing.

"I suspect that very few of our thousands of customers realise that the high-tech company they are dealing with is working from a pretty little village surrounded by miles of empty countryside!

"But although Supplement Solutions is an internet-based business, we always bear in mind that many of our customers also value personal contact if they need to talk about any horse issues.

"That's why our phone lines go straight through to staff who can provide one-to-one advice on our different preparations, often based on experiences with their own horse," added Hannah.

Supplement Solutions currently features over 5,000 horse care products on its website which can be seen at www.SupplementSolutions.co.uk