A St Albans born and bred jewellery designer has pinned down a a top award as HSBC Retail Businesswoman of the Year.

Harriet Kelsall, who founded her eponymous bespoke jewellery business in 1998, received the award at the Forward Ladies Women in Business Awards held in Leeds.

The competition is one of the country’s biggest ever searches for successful women in business from an organisation founded to support women in their professional lives and champion the role of women in the workplace..

Harriet Kelsall Bespoke Jewellery was established in 1998 and is now recognised in the UK and across the world as a market leader in bespoke jewellery design, with over 20 national and international awards to its name.

Harriet is credited with revolutionising bespoke design within the jewellery industry and is a champion for ethics, the environment and education within her sector.

She is vice-chairman of the National Association of Jewellers and is a board member of the Responsible Jewellery Council and the British Hallmarking Council.

Harriet, who is also a freeman of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, said, “I was amazed and thrilled to be chosen as Retail Businesswoman of the Year and to be recognised within such a vast network of successful businesswomen.”

She was presented with a bespoke glass trophy, hand blown in Yorkshire.