Business people often spend millions - and hours of time - thinking about their company's style, or brand. But they often neglect to think about their own image, according to Maggie McMillan.

Her company, The Style Counsel, offers personal image consultancy - something that has become more and more popular recently, sparked by TV personalities like Trinny and Susannah.

She said: "We form an impression of someone within seven to 15 seconds of meeting them. After that, you have to work very hard to overcome that first impression."

When she first started as a consultant, she found that big corporations were shy of addressing the issue.

"They thought it was something fluffy, about fashion. But anyone who has client interface must dress for the role - or for the one they are aspiring to.

"As you step up the ladder, you have to adapt, and look the part before you actually have that promotion.

"There is also the point that if you feel good about the way you look, you are more confident, you get positive feedback and so it goes on."

Mrs McMillan, 55, a former speech therapist and charity director, has now launched into her fourth career - training other people to become style consultants.

Over the years, her clients have ranged from pop stars to politicians and chief executives. She offers Dress for Success' workshops to companies - an option which is popular as corporate entertainment, in a sector traditionally dominated by sports events, which are often less attractive to female clients.

She agrees that pressure from the Press has led politicians, in particular, to become more image conscious, but she sees this as a positive thing.

"I think Trinny and Susannah and all those TV programmes have drawn people's attention to the importance of the way you look.

"The way the Press is concerned with how people look does put pressure on them, but it does highlight how you make judgements based on how people dress."

She also runs courses for sixth-formers and for recent graduates poised to enter the world of work.

Having been through her own personal slough of despond', she hopes to pass on the benefit of her hard-won experience to people wanting to set up their own image consultancies.

She said: "I was living in France when I came across the idea, and I did my training in Paris. Because it was going to be my last career, I decided it was going to be something I was passionate about, and I have always been passionate about the way that I looked.

"I was a charity director in my early thirties, when most charity directors were older men, and a lot of my confidence came from always looking the part.

"Because I was running a charity, it didn't mean that I had to look poor. It was important that I could hold my own with all the professional people I was meeting.

"Because of the way I dressed, I didn't have to work so hard to make a good impression."

Having married and moved to France with two teenage children, her life suddenly changed for the worse when her husband became ill and eventually died.

"Three years ago I was thrown back into the workplace by necessity and developed my style consultancy.

"I always felt very strongly that it was a good job, particularly for a woman, because you don't get paid peanuts and it can be fitted around your life very flexibly.

"When I first trained I didn't need to earn a living so urgently, so I wasn't as serious about the business as I am now. I want other women to have the benefit of my experience."

Her academy offers a package, including website production and design, stationery, training in neuro-linguistic programming and intensive mentoring.

"I wish I had had more support when I was thrown back into the workplace, and this is the result," she said.

"God forbid that anyone else should find themselves in my situation, nearly destitute, a single parent with two teenage children. If I had got my act together to do things better, I would have been able to get out of that situation more quickly."

She emphasised that she is not offering a franchise, and nor will graduates be expected to sell a branded product. The £3,000 fee for her seven-day course will include access to future interactive events and a newsletter with business development ideas. The course will be held at Bix Manor, near Mrs McMillan's home in Nettlebed, near Wallingford.