THERE was success for a Great Sankey based virtual personal assistant who won a top industry award.

Joanne Hawkins, aged 43, from Great Sankey in Warrington was awarded ‘north of england virtual assistant of the year’ at a conference held in Sunderland.

Virtual assistants offer people like Joanne the chance to work from home for businesses who need office management.

She said: “I’ve put in a lot of effort and I’m really pleased that the hard work setting up and growing my business has paid off. It proves that success is not just for the big players, sole traders can succeed as well.”