A YORK company has reached the shortlist of a national competition, representing Yorkshire in a bid for advertising and support.

York Cocoa House was chosen as a regional winner in the Local Business Accelerators competition, and is now among the final 15 going forward to benefit from mentoring and advertising around the country.

The company, which employs more than 20 people in Blake Street, was founded by Sophie Jewett, who first started selling chocolate on a market stall and holding chocolate-making workshops.

Since then she has used the company to bring back old recipes from the days of York’s founding fathers in the confectionery industry, and has built a brand based on the city’s chocolate heritage, as well as opening her own shop just over a year ago.

About 600 applicants entered the competition nationally. The winning company will get £10,000-worth of free advertising from a top London agency, and a year’s worth of mentoring from Dragons’ Den’s Deborah Meaden.

Sophie said: “To have got this far is quite exciting by itself. It would be fabulous to win and to have that support because everything we have done has been from scratch since the beginning.”