THE finalists have been announced for the 2016 Wonderful Worcestershire Women Awards.

From an initial 127 nominations, the list was trimmed down to 72 for a public vote, which attracted almost 12,500 votes online, Now the top five in each category, plus a judges' wild card entry, will go through to the final round, where they will be interviewed by the judges and the top three in each section chosen. These will then be presented with their awards at an event on Friday, April 29 at Worcestershire County Cricket Club.

The Wonderful Worcestershire Women Awards are being spear-headed by Sarah Mayo-Evans, director at Peach Recruitment, and Julia Williams, director at Premier Places, who said: "We have been overwhelmed at the positive response from the local Worcestershire community for these awards. The support we have received for the finalists from local businesses and local people has been amazing. There are truly some wonderful women in our community.”

The shortlist in each category is:

Young Business Woman of the Year: Sophie Wynne-Owen, Victoria Rawlings, Vicky Gowenlock, Natalie Allison and Katie Bennett.

Employee of the Year: Dina Parmar, Hollie Styles, Katie Bennett, Suzanne Oldnall, Stacey Humm and Kellie Wooldridge.

Volunteer of the Year: Hayley Jordan (Wildcard), Dani Oliver, Dionne Oliver, Isla Buchanan, Sharon Chance and Lucy Bickerstaff.

Significant Achievement of the Year: Liz Davies, Dionne Oliver, Emma Haynes, Hayley Jordan (Wildcard), Jean Wilson and Stanimira ‘Stassi’ Stavreva.

Director, Partner or Senior Manager of the Year: Linda Smith, Rebecca Widdowson, Jennifer Appleton, Carole Cumino and Sally Morris.

Woman-Owned Business of the Year: Natalie Lenton, Hannah Moule, Lorraine Henry, Tracy Lowe and Helena Augousti.