A BUSINESSWOMAN who helped rescue a century-old traditional North Yorkshire sawmill from certain closure has been named entrepreneur of the year at an awards ceremony highlighting Yorkshire’s best businesses.

Emma Woods, 41, who bought Duncombe Sawmill, in Helmsley, less than six years ago and turned it into a £500,000 turnover eight-employee business, received the Yorkshire Rural Business award during a dinner at The Pavilions, in Harrogate.

The event was hosted by BBC Look North presenter Harry Gration and addressed by William Hague, Richmond MP and Shadow Foreign Secretary. For Emma – an antique silver expert who numbers cataloguing the Queen’s Buckingham Palace silver collection among her previous jobs – the accolade has come at a busy time.

As reported in The Press earlier this month, she has now bought rival, Dales Timber of Pickering, out of liquidation.

She said: “I feel very honoured to have received such a prestigious award– it means a huge amount to me.

“All of us at Duncombe Sawmill have worked hard over the last five years and I would like to thank the team here for all their support.”

The Yorkshire Rural Awards, now in their third year, are organised by Dalesman magazine and backed by leading business people and community groups across the county.

They were established to honour the men and women who have made their mark on the Yorkshire countryside.

Journalist Terry Fletcher, chairman of the judges, said: “Duncombe Sawmill is an object lesson in how a traditional rural business can be made to thrive by an entrepreneur with drive and imagination.”