EVERY girl needs a little support but, depending on the degree of sporting activity we indulge in, some of us need more than others.

We are talking bosoms, but size is not an issue here, according to Selaine Messem, who runs specialist sports bra business LessBounce.

"It's estimated about 50 per cent of women experience breast pain when exercising and it's such an easy thing to fix. People think that if you've got a small bust, you don't need support, but you do.

"Tiny girls need to be able to buy sports bras as well as large ladies - it makes me so cross when women are told sports bras aren't made in their size.

"We go right up to a size 52 and right down to a 28."

She says that many big girls are desperate to exercise for health reasons, but are put off when they try.

"The problem is that it's painful, damages the bust and then people stop exercising."

Selaine is herself petite, extremely fit - she's an aerobics teacher and personal fitness instructor - and clearly knows her market.

It's one of the reasons that her company has made it on to the shortlist of the Women Mean Business Awards, sponsored by T-Mobile and the Sunday Express, seeing off competition from hundreds of others.

Selaine spent some years in the US and found it difficult to source specialist sports bras on her return.

"I had friends ship me bras from the States because I couldn't find anything here that worked," she says.

"There was very little choice and I'm UK average for size."

What began as a personal mission for good support turned into a business. She first supplied friends and then started to research the market and dropped LessBounce into the looming gap.

Now she ships an average 200 bras a week to customers worldwide from her base in Netheravon.

Much of her business is generated by her website www.lessbounce.com, advertising in specialist magazines and trade shows.

Choice is key to her success.

"We sell 45 different bras in 15 colours and 15 sizes," she says, showing me racks of scientifically engineered bras with labels like Shock Absorber, as advocated by tennis babe Anna Kournikova.

"Most retailers only stock the most popular - we always take the full range and ladies know that, if it's available, we will have it."

She says that too few women wear the right bra for the job.

"Around 77 per cent of ladies don't wear sports bras at the gym.

"As an instructor, I see women holding on to their boobs all the time. There's a huge educational role to play.

"Style is more important to some women, no matter how much you tell them it's all about support.

"They will swear they are a 34B and won't even look at another size.

"We advise people what a bra should feel like and encourage ladies to look at fit rather than at the label."

Selaine is also keen to promote breast awareness in other areas and has organised a series of events to coincide with breast cancer awareness month in October.

She kicks off with a two-hour Pink Aerobics In the Park in Regents Park on October 4, followed by a series of events across the country including a 1-hour session at Five Rivers Leisure Centre in Salisbury on October 19 at 12 noon.

All proceeds go to Cancer Research UK. She wants to hear from anyone who could help collating entries. She can be contacted on 01980 671305.