FORMER Dyson Perrins pupil Geetie Singh has been named Entrepreneur of the Year.

Miss Singh received the honour from Prime Minister's wife Cherie Blair at the Asian Women of Achievement Awards in London.

After being born to an Indian father and English mother, who split up when she was very young, Miss Singh was brought up at Birchwood Hall housing co-operative at Storridge.

She left at 16 to become an opera singer in Birmingham but moved on again after a few months.

She then worked as a waitress for 10 years before managing an organic health food shop in London, while she developed ideas for an organic pub business.

In 1998, Miss Singh and a childhood friend, Esther Boulton, took over the Duke of Cambridge in Islington, turning it into a pub restaurant selling chemically-free food, drink and even cigarettes.

They were later named Businesswomen of the Year and Gastro Pub of the Year.

Since then, Boulton and Singh Ltd has taken over The Crown in Bow and The Pelican in Notting Hill.

Eve Spence, a Birchwood Hall resident who knew Miss Singh when she was growing up, said: "It's great. We're really, really pleased for her.

"She was brought up alongside my children, so it's very nice to hear she's done so well. It didn't surprise me. She was a bright kid, nice to be around."

Miss Singh's Lulsley-based mother, Liz, said: "I always feel saying I'm proud implies I should take some credit but Geetie's always been a highly organised person and it's all been down to herself.

"Being brought up in a commune with organic farming must have been an influence."