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PICTURED: INNOVATIVE: Rachel and Tru Powell, centre, receiving their prize at the ceremony

A BROTHER and sister duo have been crowned among the winners in this year’s NatWest Great British Entrepreneur Awards.

Tru and Rachel Powell came up trumps in the Entrepreneurial Spirit category, thanks to Kandy Girl, an innovative beauty salon created just for children, which was featured in The Voice last December. Since it launched last year, the venue has served over 1,500 youngsters and hosted more than 100 pamper parties.

Speaking on the award win, Tru said: “We are humbled and honoured to win such a prestigious award given we have only been trading for 12 months. It hasn’t been easy but my sister Rachel and I are extremely proud of what we have achieved thus far.

Rachel added: “For the judges to see the value in what we are doing and crown us winners has made it all worth it. We certainly don’t do what we do for the awards but being recog- nised as entrepreneurs feels great.”

The winners were crowned across 12 categories. Previous winners of the NatWest Great British Entrepreneur Awards, now in its sixth year, include the people behind the Just Eat app and The Cambridge Satchel Company.

Francesca James, co-founder of the awards, said: “2018 has been a record year for the Great British Entrepreneur Awards in the number of entries we received. But the quality of applications has been above and beyond what we’ve seen in previous years.

CONGRATULATIONS

“Getting to the gala final is a huge achievement given the competition on show, so we would like to say congratulations to all of our shortlisted entrepreneurs, and our winners!”

Speaking on the award win, the judges commented: “Rachel and Tru have done fantastically well to get to where they are.”

The Powells are set to relocate Kandy Girl to a new site, open a second one and launch a product range in January.

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