BRIGHTON based Victoria Green has been shortlisted in the 2017 NatWest Great British Entrepreneur Awards.

It is in the running for the Small Business of the Year and beat off tough competition to make the regional shortlist.

More than 1000 businesses enter the awards nationally across the wide range of categories.

The business is based in St Luke’s Road, Brighton.

Founder Victoria Green said: “I am thrilled to be shortlisted for such a prestigious award.

“Launching a business has been extremely challenging and has involved an enormous learning curve, the size of which I couldn’t have imagined before I set out.

“Having had my first collection snapped up by Debenhams in 2014, I am so proud that the business has gone on to achieve such a strong growth rate.

“It’s therefore wonderful to receive this recognition from NatWest.”

For over 20 years, Victoria has been designing ‘behind the scenes’ for the most popular names on the British High Street.

Passionate about functional design, she saw a gap in the market and set her sights on creating a range of designs, making day-to-day life more organised.

The result is a collection of beauty bags which are first and foremost practical but also look great on the bathroom shelf.

With the first range being snapped up by Debenhams, the Victoria Green label has gone from strength to strength and has gathered many more stockists, as well as an army of devoted fans.

Now in its fifth year, the NatWest Great British Entrepreneur Awards has celebrated some

amazing entrepreneurs over the years, many of whom are now household names.

Past winners include David Buttress of Just Eat, Julie Deane of The Cambridge Satchel Company, James Watt of BrewDog and Alexander Solomou of TheLADBible Group.

Francesca James, creator of the awards, said: “We have been inundated with some incredible entries this year, and all shortlisted applicants should be extremely proud of themselves! T

“his year has seen a record number of entrants and we’ve been absolutely blown away by the strength and diversity of applications.”

Victoria Green will attend the gala final in London in October.

The company has also been selected as a key partner to feature in a new campaign by Santander.

Victoria said: “Our company is growing quickly.”