It proved to be a small world when a former Cheddar Valley pupil was congratulated at a national awards final in London by his local MP.

Michael Turner, who left the Kings of Wessex School after completing his GCSEs, was a finalist at Shell LiveWIRE's Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009 awards last week.

The 17-year-old from Lympsham came runner up, but was congratulated on his TurnKey IT Solutions business by Weston-super-Mare MP John Penrose.

The MP was at the awards to deliver the keynote speech in his role as shadow business minister.

He said: "I was delighted to meet Michael and to hear about his business. He's put in a lot of hard work in the last year, and it's fantastic to see that his drive and determination is paying off and he's been recognised in such a prestigious national competition."

The runner up was extremely thrilled to make it so far in the national award and said: "While I did not win this year's award, I did meet a number of influential business people and have already gained business from being a part of the tough judging process. I'm keen to grow my business further and aim to do this over the coming years, so watch this space."