A HOME improvement company owned by a Hungarian couple who moved to the UK 10 years ago have won a prestigious business award.

Mate Libics and his fiancée Alexandra Gyarmathi are the proud owners of Pontllanfraith-based Libics Home Improvement Limited, and took home the highly commended award in the Best Home Improvement Business category in the Best of Welsh Business Awards 2023.

The company was also nominated in two other categories - Best Family Run Business, and Best New Business, finishing as a runner-up in the latter.

This success comes hot on the heels of last year, when they won the Home Improvement Award.

“The win last year far exceeded our expectations,” said Ms Gyarmathi. “We were delighted, and we were thrilled to be honoured with the highly commended award this year.”

The couple, who moved to the UK from Hungary 10 years ago, have more than 13 years of experience in the home improvement and marketing industries. They made the move to Wales after college, upon realising that there weren’t many job opportunities in their industry at home, with Mr Libics choosing Wales after having visited and fallen in love with the country.

It’s a decision they say they’ve “not regretted once”.

The family business was officially established in December 2020 after both Mr Libics and Ms Gyarmathi had been put on furlough by the coronavirus pandemic.

They took the chance to reassess their futures and decided that the opportunity to form their own business, something they had always considered, was too good to turn down.

Within six months, they were fully booked and continue to go from strength to strength.

The team has grown massively since their first Welsh Business Awards nomination in 2021, with a workforce of four, not including Ms Gyarmathi who deals with the admin and sales side of the business.

She says they work well because they understand what is needed in a family home.

“As a family orientated company, we completely understand the difficulties of achieving a good work-life balance," she said. "Having our own young family and drawing on our experiences, we promote working flexibly to help our staff as much as possible.”

The company have maintained a full capacity of bookings, with most having to be made more than three months in advance to secure availability.

They have found word of mouth and social media to be their most successful tools, and this is how they believe they have been consistently nominated for the Welsh Business Awards.

The team are forever grateful to their customers, without whom they are aware they would not have won so many awards.

Ms Gyarmathi said: “Because no two projects are the same, we provide a personalised service and we will be forever grateful for our customers’ support, as they help us to achieve our business and life goals!”

You can find them on social media or call them on 07935 041312.