TWO young women entrepreneurs made it a clean sweep for Swale in a countywide competition.

Julia Cook, 30, from Sittingbourne, and Vanessa Alcock, 29, from Sheerness, clinched the top two places in the 2004 Shell LiveWire Young Entrepreneur of the Year county final.

They both go on to the regional final held at Newmarket Racecourse on May 4 after seeing off a challenge from six other hopefuls in a competition sponsored by Business Link Kent, Baker Tilly, The Prince's Trust, and Shell.

Julia founded designer clothes label Tickittyboo for children between two and eight. The attractive garments with a story theme are sold in specialist outlets across Europe. Her creations have featured in Vogue Bambini magazine in Italy.

Rainham-born Julia, who studied at Kent Institute of Art and Design, said she was shocked by the victory, which gave her £500 and professional services from Baker Tilly worth £750.

"I was up against a lot of good experienced people," she said. But the triumph gave her a morale-boost and reassurance that she was going in the right direction.

"If you look at celebrities like the Beckhams, they are all going out and buying more exclusive items for their children because they want to be different."

Vanessa, a single mum, set up a coffee shop S'Vive in Sheerness High Street. It offers high-quality coffee and homemade cakes, as well as disabled and baby-changing facilities.

She said: "People want to come because we're a little bit more upmarket and have a nice cup of coffee.”

Vanessa, who won £200 and advice worth £250, aims to open four more similar coffee shops in Kent over the next few years.

A special award went to Bonnie Lloyd Holistics, a Tunbridge Wells based aromatherapy business.

Other finalists, who were all praised by the judges, were Living Landscapes, founded by Steve Thompson in Folkestone; Consultation Inverventions, a gym software firm set up by James Darlington and Richard Chipperfield in Gillingham; First Class Football, the creation of Andrew McAllen and Ben Tadmor in Tunbridge Wells; Fox's Pots, a pottery firm set up by Rebecca Fox in Leigh; and TJK London, a gift firm grown by Tim Kitney.

The judges were Janice Sandwell, Business Link Kent, Joanne Parrett of Baker Tilly, John Wood, The Prince's Trust, and Trevor Sturgess, Kent Messenger Group business editor.