TELL Sharon Winfield how some men sneer at women’s handbags as irrelevant fetishes and she laughs. “Men just don’t get it, but women know what is important!”

And there are enough women around sustaining the success of her York venture both as makers and buyers to prove the point.

In fact Sharon’s shop, Bolsita, in Micklegate, York, is doing so well that she is entering it in The Small Business Of The Year category of The Press Business Awards 2010. And she is pitching for the Women In Enterprise title.

Sharon veered from a good career to start this venture in November, 2008. She had been a senior scrutiny adviser for Leeds City Council, advising politicians on policies and decisions, a natural follow-up to the degree she earned in social policy at the University of York (where she also gained a history degree).

But she had always wanted to start a shop of this kind. She had grown up with a love of fabrics. Her mother was into haberdashery and making clothes.

For eight years Sharon dabbled in bag making part time, giving herself the cash base to slowly set up a full time venture. “I saved money to fund it. It is important for women to set off in business with a stash of cash,” she advises.

Manufacturing and retailing her stylish bags, she now also supplies other shops in the region.

“We provide a vibrant outlet for women in the region who design and make handbags and accessories, providing a shop window for 20 home-based businesses.”

Now her bags, which range in price from £15 to £215, can also be found online at Bolsitabags.co.uk seven days a week Her ethos is to promote locally produced products as well as seeking out fair-trade items from elsewhere and importing from unusual places. Her latest coup is to source stunning bags made by a couple in Lithuania. “They’re quirky but perfect,” she says.

With the help of an assistant, Sharon offers a bespoke service too, if necessary altering old bags to make something new.

“Our products use vintage and recycled fabrics and buttons. We often receive the contents of people’s attics – boxes of vintage fabrics and forgotten projects – a delight for us.”