A TOTTINGTON businesswoman whose range of services include preparing job biographies for candidates certainly has a pretty impressive CV of her own.

For sheer hard work has enabled Mrs Andrea Kinsella to increase her turnover by a staggering 100 per cent since she launched her Tottington Business Services company from the cramped confines of her bedroom just five years ago.

Her business, a virtual one-stop shop, now occupies its own offices and offers a range of corporate services designed for small one-man-band operations.

And Andrea (37), is also creating work for more than ten other small firms by sourcing contracts and passing these on for a finder's fee via her own web site.

"My business now includes services such as registered mail boxes, telephone answering service, printing, photo copying, faxing, e-mailing, CVs and general secretarial services," she said.

Not only that, the thriving Market Street-based company also handles book keeping, accounting, corporate hospitality, local courier services, web site creation, computer-related work and Investors in People training. The wide range of services available marks a remarkable expansion and growth achieved since Andrea launched the company from a spare bedroom in her Tottington home.

"Basically, I started on a part-time basis doing secretarial work for one company when my daughter was young," explained Andrea.

"I'd say my turnover a month then was just £200. Now, it's risen to around £2,000 and much of this is due generally to word-of-mouth."

She took the decision to go it alone when she gave up her job as a secretary with a firm of consulting engineers in Manchester to have a baby.

During the past five years, Andrea has replaced her old typewriter with computer equipment and has seen her business come on leaps and bounds.

Much of the work she secures, including web design and other day to day business tasks, are subsequently passed on to other local companies to fulfil.

"As well as providing services, we have also helped several local sole traders working from home to achieve a better working potential by advertising their services on our web site," she disclosed.

"These companies are all related to office services, such as local accountants, book keepers and promotion agencies."

And young mums working from home have also benefited from the company harnessing their secretarial experience to provide holiday cover.

Andrea continues to handle all the secretarial duties from her own office which has replaced her spare bedroom as the hub of her operation. For as Tottington Business Services grew, so too did the need to find new premises.

"I opened my own office 18 months ago and it was set up specifically for companies to provide them with such things as stationery and other services."

Today, Andrea has around 50 to 60 clients on her books, the vast majority work from home with only one or two people who use a range of secretarial services.

"For the one-man-bands, they can take advantage of a full-running office for as little as £40 a month. Compared to the price of renting or buying an office, it's a lot more affordable."

She went on: "My company is aimed and targeted at the small business which is very often run from home.

"As I started out this way myself, I know how difficult it is to pay large bills to big companies where products have to be placed on a minimum order basis, such as company stationery and business cards.

"As a new business, this is not always possible unless you have a substantial amount of capital to afford large orders. I deal on the basis that there is no minimum order."

Andrea's office is also geared to serving the public, as well as firms, by offering faxing, photocopying, printing services and computer repairs.

A sleeping partner in the company is Mr Ken O'Donoghue who owns the building which occupies Andrea's business. He was the first businessman to provide her with work.

Andrea is modest about the success she has achieved during the last five years.

"The company took off really without an awful lot of trying," she says.

"I wasn't intending it to go the way it went. It would be nice to go even further, but at the moment I've got quite enough to occupy me."