She has been nominated for the NatWest Everywoman Awards and will attend a glittering ceremony at the Dorchester Hotel in London on Wednesday.

The awards, now in their sixth year, recognise and reward the nation’s most successful female entrepreneurs, across all ages and sectors.

Sadie Ayton’s business, Sadie the Bra Lady, based in County Durham has been shortlisted for the Hera Award for the most inspiring entrepreneur aged 50 or over.

Sadie started her business after realising high street retailers still used the 1907 guide to measure customers.

Starting out with just one shelf of bras in the shop, Sadie now has six shops and over 54,000 registered customers – one of which is based in Hanover Road in Scarborough.

Sadie has appeared on several television programmes, including Channel 4’s She’s Gotta Have it, and has fitted a number of celebrities, and the original Calendar Girls – the WI women who bared all for a calendar had their bras fitted for the BBC’s Inside Out series.

Now at 71 years old, she is a member of the Entrepreneurs Forum, advising students wanting to start their own businesses, as well as supporting a number of charities.

Sadie said, “I’m not driven by money but passion, I train all my staff personally and I hope that my business will continue after my demise.”

Carolyn Goble, area ambassador for NatWest Women in Business, said: “As a bank we are always looking to help women enjoy the rewards of running their own business and since launching our Women in Business Service we have helped over 18,000 new customers. Sadie is a great role model and I hope her success encourages others to make their dream of running a business a reality. These awards recognise some of the UK’s most inspirational female entrepreneurs, so getting this far is an incredible achievement in itself. ”