Jennie Bracewell (34), managing director of a small group of Lancashire-based day nurseries, has won through a field of 167 applicants to the section's woman of the year award.

The finals are to be held at Blackpool's Tower Ballroom next month.

Qualifying in 1992, Jennie was first appointed as a nursery nurse at Le Monde Petit Day Nursery in Burnley in 1993.

She become manager in 2000 and, in 2004, became operations director of all four nurseries in the group, becoming managing director in 2006.

Providing care for 240 children daily in Burnley, Longton, Preston and Clayton-le-Woods, Chorley, the nursery group comprises three limited companies and a registered charity.

Jennie lives in Barrow with husband Tony and stepdaughter, Stacey, who is a pupil at Clitheroe Grammar School's sixth form.

The proprietors of a new Clitheroe bridal shop have also won through to the finals of this year's awards.

Sisters-in-law Joanne Driver and Kelly Dixon opened Amelia's in Moor Lane, four months ago but are down to the final four in the Most Promising Business of the Year category.

The pair's business – which provides a range of special occasion gowns and accessories for bridal parties, mothers of the bride and prom-goers, as well as other accessories – triumphged over 200 hopefuls.

The company was nominated by Ribble Valley Enterprise Agency, which helped Joanne and Kelly put together their business plan.

To earn a place in the last four, Joanne and Kelly faced a panel of five for a "Dragon's Den"-style interview at the Chamber of Commerce headquarters in Preston.

Both women were brought up in Clitheroe, where they still live with their husbands, with parents and grandparents close by.

After leaving Ribblesdale High School, Joanne, trained as a midwife in Preston, moving to Blackburn when she qualified. Kelly who is married to Joanne's brother, Chris, attended Bowland High School, Grindleton, and on leaving school trained in child care, becoming a teaching assistant.
Joanne said: "It seemed a natural progression when the opportunity arose to open our own bridal shop, as we had attended many wedding fairs promoting our hand-crafted wedding stationery business and we felt we had learned to cater for everything the modern bride requires."