Clothes range founder nominated

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 24th Oct 2007

A businesswoman who set up a company making clothes for disabled people has been nominated for a prestigious award. Annabel McMahon, who set up Rackety's of Leek, Staffordshire, has made it to the finals of HSBC's Start-up Stars competition.

Ms McMahon said: "It struck me what a huge gap there was in the market for clothes for people with disabilities." She said clothes for disabled people seemed to have not been updated for around 20 years.

Paralympic gold medallist Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson is among the supporters of the clothing range. The clothes are designed to be adaptable and were made with ease of use in mind.

Dame Tanni said: "Disabled people want to look nice but it's also important that some of the items are adaptable.

"So with the jackets you can put them on forwards and you can put them on backwards - and it's just about having a great range that fits into disabled people's lives."

The firm has also designed clothes for children with special needs. These clothes include features such as specially-designed fastening. The winner of the competition will be announced at a ceremony at the Dorchester hotel in London next week.