THE second annual Hereford-shire and Worcestershire Business Festival, held at the Three Counties Showground, has been hailed a success.

Visitors were full of praise for the event, which was double the size of last year and featured celebrity speakers and a gala dinner.

Former Northern Ireland secretary Mo Mowlam, England rugby captain turned businessman Will Carling and

Small Firms Minister Nigel Griffiths spoke on aspects of business and leadership to many of the 2,000 visitors who attended the festival last Thursday.

Ms Mowlam spoke about her efforts for integrated education in Northern Ireland and about the qualities of leadership she drew on during her work in the region.

She said she was glad to be back in Malvern.

"It's a beautiful part of the country. I've been to Malvern before, I love the area," she said.

Adrian Field was representing Malvern Hills District Council at The Malverns Experience stand.

"It's a good opportunity to promote the area, both locally and nationally as well," he said.

Simon Foster, manager of Eastnor Castle, said the festival was a good opportunity to meet people face to face.

"We have made some very good contacts so far," he said on Thursday morning, adding that he was likely to return next year.

The Abbey Hotel's business development executive, Jo Sutherland, said she was finding the show useful for promoting the hotel's conference facilities.

"The show is fantastic so far, it's easily comparable to the two big London shows we have done this year," she said.

At a gala dinner at Malvern Theatres the same evening, awards were presented to businesses judged victorious in eight categories.

Among the winners were the Malvern-based Borrowers Toy Library for the Community Business Award and Ledbury's Haygrove Tunnels Ltd in the Overseas Trade cate-gory.

Festival director Patricia Head said: "The awards were well received by everybody.

"We are extremely pleased with the feedback we are getting - we are already hearing from people who want to come back next year."