A businesswoman from Malvern attended a reception hosted by the Prince of Wales in London to celebrate the success of the Prince’s Initiative for Mature Enterprise (PRIME).

Sue Shackleton, of Albert Road North, launched EasyRead Time Teacher Clocks selling special clocks that teach children how to tell the time and attended a training course run by the charity in Worcester to learn how to set up the business.

At the reception at St James’s Palace, she told fellow guests how she started the business after being made redundant at the age of 53. She began working with her Australia-based brother Roger, who had already designed the clock to help teach his own children.

She said: “We decided to go into business despite the distance but considering this was the first time we had set up a business, I began to look for help.

“PRIME’s business training course helped me and my brother formulate a business plan, as well as how to launch the product.

“Now we have an online business selling our clocks around the world. It’s not every day you get invited to attend an event at St James’s Palace and it was a big honour for me to have the opportunity to meet the Prince of Wales.”

PRIME’s chairman, Richard Martin, said: “People over the age of 50 have a wealth of skills and experience to benefit their local communities, as well as the wider economy, and people like Sue serve as a positive example that it’s never too late for you to set up your own business.”