But Anna eventually decided a career in retail management was not for her either.

She says: "It was awful. It really wasn't my thing - but I did again find myself in a training role when my entire department's staff was changed overnight!"

She also found she had a talent for setting up procedures and tracking events. "I wanted to use these skills but I just had to get out of the retail environment," she said.

Leaving the shop floor for an office job, Anna discovered this was where her talents could be used. "By this time I had a good idea of how computerisation could help procedures become faster, more efficient and generally more professional. I found myself writing a small database for the examinations department. Then I had to train the staff how to use it - I was in my element."

The system she set up is still in use today, five years on.

Anna progressed through the company from PA for the director-general to administration manager working on IT projects and liaising with external providers.

She says: "At this point the IT thing really took over. I found myself abandoning my own work to run mini training sessions for the staff and set up a help-desk service. When the company introduced e-mail I was asked to provide training in an official capacity. It was at this point I knew what I had to do next."

She left the company to study for a teaching diploma in IT while also working on an Intranet project for a large company.

She says: "Even there I found perfectly capable, intelligent people were making their lives difficult through lack of IT skills." She was able to lend a hand in her spare time to help them.

After Anna gained her teaching qualification she formed her own company, Marlow Net. She works as a self-employed trainer and targets small businesses because she feels this is where help is most needed.

"Businesses buy computers complete with a range of software because they realise this is the way forward, but staff often struggle with the technology through lack of training."

Anna enjoys helping solve specific problems and tailors courses to a company's own needs. Some companies also hire her for one-to-one tuition, so people can ask questions while working on projects.

She says: "I feel this is a particularly valuable service since there is only so much you can get out of a set training day, it also means I am continuing to learn, since clients do present problems I have not met before. I am willing to tackle anything. Working through a problem with a client by my side means both parties feel they have contributed to the solution. Clients gain confidence and it is really rewarding when they start coming up with their own ideas."

Marlow Net deals mainly with Microsoft Office products including Front Page web authoring software.

Anna will be giving a talk about the value of having your own web page, and giving some advice about getting started, at the May Women in Business meeting.

Call 020 8659 9836 or e-mail training@

marlownet.freeserve.co.uk