YOUNG business people in the Vale and Cotswolds have been recognised as being among the best in the Midlands and South West.

A Winchcombe-based glassware designer made it into the top three of the South West's Shell-sponsored LiveWIRE companies, while a high-tech entrepreneur who operates in Broadway was one of the Midlands' top 10.

Susan Nixon Design, which is based in Rushley Lane, Winchcombe, beat off nine rivals in a round held at Bristol.

Susan, aged 25, had previously been runner-up in the Worcestershire round of the contest.

Since setting up her glassware design company last August, she has won some prestigious clients, including the BBC and BT.

Susan was also commissioned by the Amateur Rowing Association to produce a vase for Steve Redgrave to mark his record-breaking fifth Olympic gold medal.

She said she was "delighted" and "absolutely gobsmacked" by her success.

"You're working away so hard that you don't really think about where you are in the global scheme of things."

Andrew Butt, 18, who runs an office of internet software company DCS E-Commerce in Buckland, near Broadway was shortlisted in the Midlands region list for the same competition.

Already a qualified helicopter pilot, the young entrepreneur is moving to live in Evesham within the next two weeks.

He has launched a product to enable businesses of all sizes to maintain their own websites by allowing non-technical people to take control.

He has been in business for a year and thought entering the LiveWIRE competition was a good experience.