A businesswoman amazed at the lack of choice of suitable outfits for the office has started her own marketing company.

Sandra Street, from Chailey, tired of searching for blouses that suited her and reflected her style and personality, without costing the earth and so did many of her friends.

So after researching the subject and finding what she wanted and, more importantly, what her target market wanted, she set up Bigwig to market a range of women's shirts. The move realised a long held ambition to have her own business.

Sandra said: "Having worked on both sides of the fence in marketing, I know that personal appearance matters when meeting clients.

"We're all individual and we want our clothes to reflect this too. I became fed up with not finding anything suitable to wear in the workplace that didn't look like a uniform.

"By the time they reach their 30- somethings, most women are pretty clued up on what styles and colours suit them. So why is it that the styles, colours and fabrics are aimed at the 20 somethings or the working grannies?"

Armed with her marketing skills, she started looking for manufacturers and suppliers of shirts she liked in order to get Bigwig up and running.

She said: "It was not long before she started negotiations with a French firm which produces shirts close to what she had in mind but after months of dialogue they told her they only wanted to supply shops. If I was going to get anywhere with the project I was going to have to start my own label.

"I found that all avenues were closed to me, mainly because of the minimum production volumes required before the factories would consider getting out of bed.

"Then I came across the Nottingham Fashion Centre quite by chance. I was put in touch with Denise Raynor of Pronto Design Associates and we've put together a range of shirts and we've started working on the next range."

With a range of 100 per cent cotton shirts and catalogues hot off the press Sandra and Bigwig are ready for business and can be contacted on 0870 241 3564.