Her previous employers couldn't have cared less, so Ann Rushforth made caring her business. And it's been a successful move for all concerned

With the pressing demands of three children under five and a mortgage to pay, necessity spurred registered nurse and midwife Ann Rushforth to set up her own business at home.

Now, 10 years on, Scotnursing Limited has more than 2500 employees on its books and is heading for an annual turnover of more than #3.3m.

''I had wanted to have my own business and had taken a Starting in Business course, so I just turned to what I knew best,'' Rushforth said. ''I started agency nursing one night a week when the youngest was still a baby, worked on a business plan, made an appointment with the bank manager, found a baby sitter, bought a suit. The bank manager was most receptive. He was very surprised I had done the business plan myself.''

Scotnursing Limited started up in a bedroom in Rushforth's Dumbarton home, and continued to be based there for the first three years. ''You don't need a plush office from day one,'' she said. ''You need the business to sustain what you have got.'' Now Scotnursing has a head office in Bearsden and branch offices in Alexandria, Paisley and Motherwell. Plans for offices in Edinburgh and Ayr are being ''incubated'' , and there's a feasibility assessment for an Aberdeen office.

At first Rushforth was on call but as her business has grown, her role has changed. ''To start with the demands were on my time. Now it is the demand of responsibility,'' she said. ''I miss hands-on nursing but the satisfaction of providing top quality care is very great. We know we can do it better than anyone else.''

Scotnursing now have a quality management team to implement day-to-day running. ''The vision of how the company grows is mine, but the way it is implemented is up to the team and we have regular team meetings,'' Rushforth said.

She knew from experience that there was a lack of flexibility in shift patterns and that she was ''just a number on the agency books''. As a result, Rushforth believes in nurturing her staff. ''We pay well to get the right quality nurses and carers we need and they are very much part of the team,'' she said. ''We provide training and look after them. If we didn't they wouldn't be able to give our client the service they want. It's a balancing act.''

Rushforth is also a mentor for other start-up businesses in Dunbartonshire. Having initially received advice from the local enterprise company, and continued to undertake its courses and implement its programmes, she wants to give something back. ''It is important we help people seize the opportunities,'' she said. ''They are there but many people lack the belief that they can do it. People in business ought to be role models to show that it can be done.''

Much of Rushforth's work with Dunbartonshire Enterprise involves talking to people and offering advice.

''When you are setting out you can never talk to too many people,'' she said. ''It is much the same as when you have children. Everyone wants to give you advice. You just have to filter it down and decide what is good for you.''

Having brought Scotnursing from nothing to a turnover exceeding #3.3m, Rushforth is constantly ''moving the goal posts'' in her expectations for the future. ''I would never have believed back in 1987 that the company would develop in such a way.''

SHE added: ''You realise after a while that the only thing that marks out a successful business person is that they make more right decisions than wrong ones.''

Her staff now work in every sector of healthcare - hospitals, nursing homes, even at an airport. As well as expanding geographically - there's a European Development Manager to recruit overseas staff - Scotnursing may expand into new areas. A flexible childcare service is being introduced which will combine professional nanny and housework.

As she looks forward to a millennium projection of an #8m plus turnover, Rushforth said: ''I am enjoying it too much to even think of stopping now.''