A Huddersfield businesswoman has won a national award.
Sam Pearce, founder of the Potting Shed Spa in Batley and a partner at Easthorpe Hall in Mirfield, took the title of SME Emerging Business of the Year at the Forward Ladies Women in Business national finals in Leeds.
The awards, hosted by ITV newsreader Charlene White, rewarded entrepreneurial female business leaders from across the UK competed in 11 categories.
Other winners included Claire O’Connor, of babyballet in Halifax. who won Retail Business of the Year, and Ultimo founder Michelle Mone, who received the Special Lifetime Achievement Award.
The finalists triumphed in their regional heat to make it to the national finals and were put through their paces at a live session with an expert judging panel at the Leeds office of awards headline sponsor HSBC.
Griselda Togobo, managing director of Forward Ladies, said: “We were delighted to welcome applications from women from across the UK in this year’s national Women in Business awards.
“We are also happy to have been able to reward and celebrate the achievements of women from diverse backgrounds and industries proving that success can be achieved by anyone through hard work and determination.”
She added: “Women are setting up their own businesses in unprecedented numbers and the news that women are also making strides in the boardroom signals a welcomed shift. “
