Dawn's success in a man's world lands top award.

A MOTHER-of-two who heads a company thriving in the male-dominated construction industry has won a top businesswoman of the year award.

Dawn Gibbins founded Flowcrete with her father in 1982 and has built up the specialist concrete flooring firm through a combination of hard work, innovation and a "can do" attitude.

The company, based in Cheshire, now employs 200 workers in the UK and abroad and has a turnover of pounds 25m.

Judges in the Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman of the Year competition said they were impressed that the 44-year-old had created a world beating business in an unglamorous sector.

"Manufacturing is regarded as being very mucky, but I have a wonderful job and I would urge more women to come and join me in this industry," said Dawn before accepting her award yesterday.

Dawn tried several jobs, including a petrol pump attendant, a machinist in a factory and a domestic in an old people's home before setting up in business with her father Peter.

Flowcrete has offices in 20 countries and manufactures two million square metres of industrial and commercial flooring every year in the UK.

Half the company's directors and a third of the workforce are women and Dawn is passionate about helping her staff develop.

"I do work in a very masculine world, but you just have to get on with things."

Dawn works around 50 hours a week but usually manages to take her two teenage daughters to the school bus every morning and meets them in the afternoon.