By Matthew Legg

Published at 11:49, Friday, 17 October 2008

A WOMAN who launched a range of soaps for sensitive skin after suffering for years with severe eczema is among the contenders in the CN Group Business Awards 2008.

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Dorthe Pratt, founder of the Sedbergh Soap Co, will go head-to-head with Sarah Dunning, chief executive of Westmorland Limited, and Barrow physiotherapist Sally Forbes in the Businesswoman of the Year category,sponsored by Capita Symonds.

The awards are run by the CN Group, publisher of the News & Star.

Main sponsors are Invest in Cumbria and Business Link Northwest.

Dorthe launched her firm after years of battling against the misery of severe eczema.

Over the years, she had spent thousands of pounds on soap products labelled “for sensitive skin” with virtually no success.

So she did what all great entrepreneurs do: decided to make the products herself.

After much experimentation, the first finished products were made from lavender and lemongrass and Dorthe discovered she had hit on a soap product that was, in her words, “beautifully fragrant, but did not irritate her skin”.

And so the Sedbergh Soap Co, based at a sheep and cattle farm at the foot of the Howgill Fells in Sedbergh. was born.

The company now produces ranges of soap bars, liquid soap, bath soak and gift ideas.

Sarah Dunning is chief executive of Westmorland Limited, owner of Britain’s only independent and locally-run service station, at Tebay.

She became chief executive in July 2005 at the age of 35.

She set out to take Westmorland, already a successful and well-established company, into a new era by strengthening its brand values, improving its customer offer and by creating a more dynamic and professional culture.

She has overseen a capital investment programme of £3m which has seen a new cafe and takeaway unit, a butcher’s counter, a family room, outdoor eating areas and a new forecourt shop built at the Tebay service station.

Polly Forbes is the owner and founder of three physiotherapy clinics in South Lakeland.

Polly, with friend and colleague the late Andrea Frost, launched South Lakeland Physiotherapy Service in 1994 on Hartington Street, Barrow.

Their second surgery was opened in Kendal, by which time the pair were well on their way to cementing their reputation for excellence.

A third practice followed, at Cannon’s Gym, in Barrow in 1999, as did clinics in Cartmel and Grange in 2000.

Andrea passed away in 2002, leaving Polly to run the clinics single-handedly.

She was determined to battle through and continue the business as a lasting tribute to Andrea.

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