THREE years ago mum Nadine Lewis suffered the trauma of being separated from one of her toddler twins in the Trafford Centre.

At first the mother-of-three was panic-stricken, but after a few minutes, the child was found.

Happily, the mother-of-three's experience had a positive outcome.

It gave her the idea for a business - started from her Radcliffe home - which now employs four people and has an annual turnover of £500,000.

She is now managing director of IdentiKids, which markets wristbands and name tapes storing important information about a child's identity should he or she go missing.

The information also includes details of any possible food allergies.

Today, the ground breaking firm, now based in Bury, is on the verge of expansion. IdentiKids has just secured £250,000 funding from Bank of Scotland Corporate and there are orders from Mothercare and Boots.

The successful year was capped when the firm won the regional final of the National Business Awards.

Since its launch in 2002, IdentiKids has become the brand leader in personal identification products, primarily for children and youngsters with medical conditions and allergies.

But it also caters for teenagers, adults and for the elderly, helping to reduce their vulnerability.

Mrs Lewis said: "The products have really taken off and the range is expanding all the time, as is our order book.

"The most recent order from Boots is great news for us and we are very optimistic about the future.

"Bank of Scotland Corporate was unique in its approach and saw IdentiKids as a business with real challenges, rather than just a company merely trying to secure finance."

Chris Salt, associate director of Bank of Scotland Corporate, said: "Research shows over 5,000 children each year in the UK become separated from their parents and as allergies and other medical conditions become more of a concern, IdentiKids products are an excellent solution to many identification issues. Like many rapidly expanding companies it needed our assistance to ensure it could meet demand and now the funding can be used to tackle this challenge."