EMMA Heathcote-James, founder and chief executive of Broadway's Little Soap Company, has won another major business award.

She took the business entrepreneur of the year category in the business awards organised by the Coventry Evening Telegraph for the success and innovation of her company since its foundation in 2008.

Ms Heathcote-James topped a shortlist of three at the event at The Ricoh Arena, Coventry. The other two entrepreneurs worked in the cosmetic and financial sectors.

She said: "I am over the moon to have won the business entrepreneur of the year award. Since founding Little Soap Company in 2008, I have worked tirelessly, and have gone from cold days manning stalls at farmers’ markets, to securing and launching my products in 268 Waitrose stores as well as other national supermarkets, all to ensure organic, natural soap is available to everyone. So, I am absolutely thrilled to have my work recognised in this way.”

Ms Heathcote-James is an expert in organic beauty, having worked in the cosmetics industry for 10 years. She has spoken at Westminster regarding Women in the Workplace and at the EU Headquarters in Brussels on the importance of micro enterprise, and speaks regularly on being an entrepreneur.

Little Soap Company, which produces organic, pure and sustainable soap, has grown from a small-scale soap-making hobby to a fully-fledged successful business selling a range of organic, natural products to several major supermarkets across the UK, including Waitrose, and a number of independent boutiques and farm shops.