A TRAIL-BLAZING businesswoman from Newton Abbot has scooped a national award for making a big eco-splash in the world of swimwear.

Helen Newcombe, whose Davy J enterprise is based in Devon Square, has earned the prestigious accolade by harnessing global concerns over the rising tide of polluting trash in the oceans.

All her trend-setting costumes for women are made from marine waste which has been the stuff of recent environmental horror stories narrated by the likes of Sir David Attenborough, fashion guru Stella McCartney and yachtswoman Dame Ellen MacArthur.

Judges at London’s glittering Women of the Future Awards did not hesitate to make Helen one of their ‘inspirational stars of tomorrow’ by choosing her as the winner in the Entrepreneur category.

Helen, whose fledgling company only released its debut collection in March, was not expecting to join the country’s commercial elite.

‘It was a complete surprise because I was only six months into my business venture. I was up against people who were several years into theirs,’ said Helen who gave up a career as a development economist in London to do her own thing back home.

Her first innovative collection used 100 per cent regenerated nylon yarn from waste, including spent and ghost fishing nets whose alarming proliferation in the world’s oceans is killing off vast quantities of marine life.

For every tonne of waste nets collected there is enough nylon regenerated to create more than 10,000 swimsuits.

Judges said they were ‘hugely impressed’ by the homespun talent’s portfolio. Helen, they felt, ‘truly embodies the spirit of entrepreneurship’.

They said in presenting her with the top prize: ‘She is using her business to deliver a much bigger message to the world – that of building a circular economy and being mindful of the environment and resources.’

And they added: ‘Helen’s work proves that profit doesn’t necessarily have to come at an environmental price.’

Helen, whose father is local architect Jeremy Newcombe, admitted modestly after the star-studded ceremony in the capital: ‘It’s a great start. I’m delighted to gather so much momentum in my first year.’

She explained that a ‘circular economy’ related to the company’s ambition to recycle its garments once they had outlived their original use.