Dorchester businesswomen are flying the flag for the county town after reaching the semi-finals of some prestigious awards.

Joanna Davies of The Gilded Teapot and Charlotte Bennett of Every Cloud are up for awards at the Dorset Langtry Manor Business Women Awards 2012.

The awards ceremony, to be held on May 17, recognises the hard work, effort and skill that it can take to juggle business with other commitments, organisers say.

More than 800 nominations were received from across the county for 11 awards categories.

Masters graduate Joanna has been nominated for two categories for her tea and coffee merchants The Gilded Teapot.

She is vying for the Princecroft Willis Entrepreneur award and the FSB Small Business Award.

After applying for jobs for a year without success, Joanna took a chance on setting up the Gilded Teapot in the Tudor Arcade in the county town.

She said: “I’m so proud and privileged to have made it through to the finals.

“We’d love to really fly the flag for good news for Dorchester businesses, so this could be a great opportunity.”

Charlotte Bennett, of Nappers Court boutique Every Cloud, has been nominated for the NatWest New Business award.

She said: “I’m so excited. I can’t quite believe it.

“We’ve been going for 18 months now and with Jo being nominated as well, we really want to let everyone know about Dorchester.

“I think Every Cloud has been recognised because we are doing something a bit different and we sell many different homemade products.

“We’re very different from anything on the high street and because we’re a small business we can give better customer service.”

Both Joanna and Charlotte will be attending the Business Women Awards at the Langtry Manor in Bournemouth.

Tara Howard, managing director of the Langtry Manor Hotel, started The Dorset Langtry Manor Business Women awards in 2009.

She said: “Being a mother of four at the same time as running a successful business, I know only too well the pressures that women in business can be under.

“We often undervalue ourselves and our achievements. I wanted to create a system where women can be recognised for their achievements through nominations from their colleagues, friends and family.”

For a full list of the semi-finalists and to vote for Joanna and Charlotte, go to venusawards.co.uk/dorset