A HALSTEAD businesswoman has been names the most inspiring in the UK after scooping at top national award.

Davina Steel is the founder of the Davina Steel Gluten Free baking company, which is based in Halstead.

Her company creates a range of gluten free baked goods and sells to supermarkets and independent retailers across the UK.

Now she has been names the Most Inspiring Businesswoman in the Best Business Women Awards.

The awards were founded in 2015 and aims to acknowledge great women in the business community.

The awards are specifically for female business owners from sole traders to large companies.

The awards say they recognise talented and dedicated female entrepreneurs who not only run successful businesses, but in many cases also juggle the needs of their families.

The Most Inspiring Businesswoman Award is chosen by a panel of business experts.

Davina Steel beat off strong competition from six other finalists to be named the winner of this highly sought-after accolade.

Davina, who collected the award remotely during the virtual award ceremony, said: “There are so many inspiring women doing amazing things in business, so winning this award is a huge achievement.

"I started experimenting with gluten free baking when I could no longer eat gluten myself.

"It started as a hobby and has grown into a business where we are serving the needs of coeliacs and those with intolerances across the world.

“Baking is my passion, so to have been able to turn it into a thriving business has been a dream come true.

"I'm still very much 'in the kitchen', always experimenting with new recipes, whilst fulfilling the needs of our customers and coming up with new ways to reach people, such as through our new subscription service.

"The business continues to grow and we get amazing feedback. It's a fantastic industry to be in.”

The judges felt that Davina was the perfect example of a successful and inspiring business woman.

They said, “Innovation has been key to the success of this business.

"Davina has built her business from the ground up, creating the products and building a business that now retails into major supermarkets, as well as a thriving online business.

"Inspiring business women are driven visionaries who other women aspire to be and Davina has all those elements.

"She's taken her idea and quickly scaled the business and now has a firm place in her market. This is an inspirational business woman who has overcome many challenges on her path to success.”