DAWN Huntrod has realised her dream of setting up her own designer handbag boutique - but instead of taking on the expense of a shop and staff, she is running the business on-line.

Customers can browse through a selection of handbags and accessories from such well-known designers as Jean-Paul Gaultier, Natalie French and Frank Usher.

Mfuko - which means handbag in Swahili - can be found on n-e-life's shopping mall at n-e-shopping.com.

"Most of the products available on my site cannot be bought elsewhere on-line," said Ms Huntrod, who lives at Middridge, near Bishop Auckland. "They can be purchased only through large department stores such as Harrods and Selfridges.

"I'm giving consumers the opportunity to buy designer goods from their desktop without having to leave the house."

Ms Huntrod, whose goods are said to suit all pockets, drew on her own business experience and enlisted the help of n-e-life.com, a web site operated by One NorthEast, the regional development agency.

"As I didn't have the funds to set up my own shop, trading on-line was a much more viable option and n-e-life's shopping mall seemed the perfect place to showcase the site," she said. "Not only that, but on-line trading allows the greatest revenue opportunities and gives Mfuko access to a much wider audience."

She is full of praise of the staff at n-e-life who set up the site and designed the logo and layout, which meant that Ms Huntrod, whose day job is as business development manager with Durham-based Walker-Hall Associates, had extra time to meet suppliers and collate stock.

Norma Foster, chief executive of n-e-life.com, said many retailers were using the shopping mall to avoid the expense of setting up their own web site and installing an expensive payment facility.

More information about the mall is at www.n-e-shopping.com and Mfuko can also be found at www.mfuko.com.