Five businesses from Wiltshire made the shortlist for the biggest awards contest for small businesses in the South West – and one of them emerged triumphant.

The FSB South West Small Business Awards final, held at Weston-Super-Mare, saw Swindon firms Woodward Financials Limited and Eco Camping Limited, The Beauty Hut Ltd of Trowbridge, Blue Bee of Salisbury and Alfie Jones from Royal Wotton Bassett all nominated for success.

16-year-old Alfie set up his business recently and won the title of South West Young Entrepreneur of the Year.

He said: “Winning this award sets in stone that maybe I am doing something right and I’m not just a boy mowing lawns! It's great that other professionals have had a look at what I do and can see that I'm getting somewhere.”

The FSB’s South West regional chairman, Lee Nathan, noted that even making the shortlist was very creditable due to the quality and quantity of this year’s entry.

He said: “We were delighted to discover that we had a record amount of entries this year with so many small businesses telling us of their triumph against all the odds. I know that the judges found even getting down to a shortlist was a major headache - let alone trying to pick a category winner."