A tech and homewares business has hit the jackpot after the online selling giant eBay rewarded its growth with a hefty cash prize.

XS Items, which is based in Colchester, received a £5,000 cash prize as well as £15,000 worth of PR and marketing support after it won the From Little to Large Award.

The prize is part of the eBay for Business Awards, which recognise the success of small and medium-sized businesses which sell products in conjunction with eBay.

XS Items was one of 2,000 entries for this year’s competition.

The business focusses on refurbishing technology and homeware products, and now generates annual sales of £6million, as well as employing 40 people.

The concept for XS Items was devised in 2004 by Len Darr and Cliff Haviland, who came up with the idea at the side of a Florida swimming pool as they mused about business models that could be transposed from the US to the UK.

Mr Darr and Mr Haviland went on to set up the business the following year with business partners Ian Montgomery and Gareth Millar, as they looked to help businesses sell their excess stock on eBay.

Winners were selected by an expert panel of judges made up of eBay leadership, previous award winners, and industry experts. Mr Montgomery said he was proud.

He said: “It’s incredible to see how far we’ve come in the last 16 years, the number of businesses we now support and how much our knowledge of the sector and eBay has grown.”