Gaynor fights back to win business title

Which makes the achievement of Gaynor Salisbury all the more impressive.

Gaynor has just been named one of the country's top businesswomen for her Loopy Lorna's Tea House in Morningside, despite being diagnosed with breast cancer only two months after opening.

Instead of abandoning the project to focus on her health, the 49-year-old continued expanding the business to the point where she's been able to open a second branch at the nearby Church Hill Theatre. Her achievements have now won her the Entrepreneur of the Year award.

Gaynor, who lives in Morningside, named the tea house after her mother, who died of lung cancer 13 years ago.

She said the way she set up her business plan allowed her to deal with own cancer - from which she has now recovered - as well as cope with the demands of running a new enterprise.

She said: "When I got the diagnosis I did worry about how I'd cope with everything, but luckily I had great staff and fantastic friends who were able to help me.

"I had surgery and chemotherapy but I was still able to do various bits."

She added that previous experience of running a restaurant also changed her approach.

"In those days, I was working from 8am until 1am and not seeing my children.

"So, when I opened Loopy Lorna's, I decided to take a step back and be in charge of the business strategy, rather than being there all the time and becoming involved in the day-to-day running.

"It seems to have worked well, and we've now been able to open another one in the Church Hill.

"Cancer does give you a different perspective on things, you try and live for the moment a bit more, and you tend to worry less about things that aren't worth worrying about."

Gaynor joined the Winning Entrepreneurs organisation after suffering a dent in confidence as a result of the cancer, but had no idea she was in line for the award.

"I was always very into networking but after the diagnosis I lost that a bit, so I joined this organisation to try and address that."

She added: "I almost didn't go to the ceremony because I wasn't feeling great."

Judges were impressed by the way Gaynor had taken an idea of creating a specialist tea house and turned it into a popular community facility.