TWO Cumbrian women are celebrating after a prestigious business awards ceremony.

Hosted by tv celebrity and extreme cake maker Rosie Dummer, the EVAS saw a record attendance with over 720 guests who dressed to out-dazzle Blackpool’s illuminations.

The atmosphere was full of passion, camaraderie and excitement and the audience raised the roof as they showed their support and appreciation for women in business.

The ethos behind the awards is to promote female entrepreneurship and to shine the spotlight on the region’s role models to inspire more women to feel empowered and to aim higher.

A diverse range of businesses were showcased at this year’s awards and there were many examples of innovation, creativity, resilience and entrepreneurial flair.

A number of the judges said the standard was so high it was their hardest year of judging to date.

Two entrepreneurs from Cumbria fought off the competition to win awards on the night.

Zoe Wilson of ZW Clinics in Kendal won the Health and Wellbeing Award.

The judges said that “Zoe demonstrated in depth industry knowledge and research and successfully applied this into her marketing strategy. Her collaborative approach with competitors to put her clients’ needs first has her customers running back for more.”

Amanda Wilson of the Pie Mill in Keswick won the Hospitality Industry Award and there were tears amongst the audience as she paid tribute to her beloved late father and his special recipes for their award winning pies and dedicated the award to him.

Regarded as one of the driving forces for promoting female entrepreneurship in the region, Coral Horn, founder of the EVAS and Pink Link said: “All our finalists should be hugely proud of their achievements, the competition was intense and highly contested.

“Well done to the winners who stepped up and went the extra mile.”