A BUSINESSWOMAN who swapped the heat of the office for the heat of the kitchen is starting to reap the rewards.

For 20 years Lisa Reedy, 43, of The Paddock, Oswaldtwistle, worked as a business analyst for Great Universal Stores, which was then bought out by Littlewoods.

With a team of analysts working for her, Lisa played a lead role in the fortunes of the company, but plans to relocate the company to Speke, Liverpool, three years ago, meant her journey to work would become longer.

As a result she decided to turn her hobby into a career by opening Reedy's Naturally, which specialises in producing jams, marmalades and chutneys from her home base.

She said: "I started making the jams and chutneys for my friends and they said I should make some more, and really encouraged me to go for it.

"You don't know initially how it will go, but once people have tried it I tend to get a lot of repeat business.

"The products are being sold at farmers' markets and shops and some of them are going very well in hotels and restaurants." Launched in February last year, gross turnover is predicted at £14,000 for the first financial year. And she believes this figure could double or triple in 2008/09.

At the moment the product is being sold at shops such as The Chilli Lime Deli, Blackburn; Huntleys, Samlesbury; Carefoot's, Longridge and Queen Street Mill, Burnley.

According to Ella Trickett, of Made in Lancashire, the company which offered help and advice to Lisa, there is a growing trend of people swapping the rat race for home-spun projects. "There are more people who want to turn hobbies into a business.

"Maybe it's to do with their personal lives or making things easier, but they are making that step," she said.