A former winner of a Sussex student business award has designed a web site to help disabled people purchase essential equipment from the comfort of their own home.

Marcus Whitney has been working with Hastings-based Simplantex Direct to design the site.

Mr Whitney, who studied environmental resource management, won the Sussex section of the Shell Technology Enterprise Programme (STEP) in 2000, after being sponsored by Sussex Enterprise to work with Simplantex on market research and planning.

Mr Whitney returned to Simplantex to work free of charge on the web site.

He said: "I realised a large section of the disabled community found it very difficult to visit the shops they need to.

"Even when they do manage it, meeting their specific requirements can be difficult and the products might not be in stock.

"In the last few years, many more disabled people have gone online, increasing their independence.

"They can browse and shop in a way they couldn't before. I decided to tap this market and use the internet to help them buy essential equipment."

Mr Whitney approached Simplantex managing director Oliver Askaroff with the idea and said he was willing to design the site if the company gave him the resources.

He said: "The key for most people was making the site simple and secure.

"They weren't looking for innovation so much big fonts, easy to distinguish colours and the ability to make secure credit card payments."

People can order custom-made wheelchairs by emailing their measurements to the company or requesting a home visit.

Using computer-aided design, the company can produce and deliver the items within 24 hours, saving time and money for everyone concerned.

Mr Whitney has further plans for the site. He said: "Of course, this is a sales tool selling everything from bed sitter supports to wheelchairs but eventually I would like to make it a community resource providing links for disabled people's information needs."

The Simplantex project is very different from Mr Whitney's last job.

After graduating, he worked for a surf resort in Fiji, helping it to improve its marketing by focusing on environmental protection.

As a result of a report he wrote, government scientists have begun monitoring the resort's reef.

He was one of ten British tourists who were stranded on a broken-down charter boat between the islands of Bali and Lombok, Indonesia.

The group were rescued when one sent an SOS plea over her mobile phone to her boyfriend on the other side of the world.

www.simplantex.co.uk