Food, crafts and jewellery from Orkney went down a storm at two prestigious exhibitions – delivering a pre-Christmas sales boost for businesses from across the islands.

Orkney Villages at London's Country Living Christmas Fair and the BBC Good Food Show in Birmingham attracted huge interest from visitors at both events.

Now the creative and culinary companies who took part are reporting excellent sales figures – from their time at the shows and since their return to Orkney.

"It was our best ever show," said Lizza Hume, from Westray-based Hume Sweet Hume, one of five Orkney companies involved in the Country Living event.

"The Orkney Village had a great atmosphere and attracted customers in big numbers – as an enticing refuge from the frenzied hustle and bustle elsewhere in the show.

"It was obvious that many welcomed the chance to purchase high quality products from Orkney – and that they enjoyed the whole experience of visiting the village."

 Hume Sweet Hume benefited from good sales of its clothing and home and fashion accessories at the exhibition, from both new and existing customers.

"We're also getting a lot of on-line orders from people we met at the show - a nice Christmas boost for us," she added.

Orkney Marketing, an initiative funded by Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Orkney Islands Council, supported the big Orkney presence at the two shows.

Orkney Fishermen's Society (OFS), one of four islands-based businesses at the BBC Good Food Show, used the opportunity to get people tasting - and talking about - fresh crab.

"We gave out a lot of samples, many to people who'd never previously sampled this shellfish delicacy," said general manager Stewart Crichton.

"Out mission is to get as many people eating crab as we can and the best way to do that is to get it into as many mouths as possible.

"The response was really positive - something we're delighted about as we've invested in new packaging systems that allow us to make fresh white crab meat readily available to consumers through supermarkets and other food outlets."

OFS, a fishermen's co-operative that that processes shellfish landed by many boats from Orkney's inshore fishing fleet, made around £5,000 worth of sales during Britain's biggest food event.

"We came back with nothing - always the sign of a good show," added Mr Crichton.

Callum MacInnes, from the Stromness-based Island Smokery, said a company providing luxury skiing holidays in the French Alps went away with a van load of Orkney produce from the show.

"That was a real high point and reflected the huge interest in the food we were offering at the Orkney Village," he said.

 "Our presence there was really well received. We all sold a lot of food and had a lot of fun at the same time - something that creates a really positive vibe that brings customers back day after day to see us."

The Island Smokery sold its entire stock of smoked garlic dip, all but one of the smoked cheeses it took to the show – and 600 bulbs of its smoked garlic.

"You can't get much better than that," Mr MacInness added. "There's no doubt that between us, we really raised the profile of food from Orkney at the biggest event of its kind in the UK."

* Along with OFS and the Island Smokery, the Orkney Herring Company and Stockan & Gardens also exhibited at the BBC Good Food Show.

Orkney Quality Food and Drink, which represents the county's leading producers, had its own stand as well - and gave visitors the chance to try food and drink from three more companies, Orkney Isles Preserves, Orkney Fudge and Highland Park Distillery.

 At the Country Living event, Hume Sweet Hume exhibited alongside Tait & Style, Ortak, The Quernstone, and Ola Gorie, as well as a team from VisitOrkney.