Easy access to huge gains

Minister for Disability Anne McGuire has called on South Yorkshire firms to follow the lead of the Showroom cinema in Sheffield, and set cash registers ringing. Mrs McGuire was visiting companies around the country that are at the forefront in providing facilities for people with disabilities.

"This is an excellent example because it is an old building which has been converted to ensure people with a range of disabilities can access the services that the Showroom provides," said Mrs McGuire .She wants to persuade companies that there are sound business reasons for looking on the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act as an opportunity to win new customers.

"There are billions of pounds to be spent by disabled people. One young man I met said: 'My pound is as good as anybody else's. That's the clear message.I want to get over that there is a business case for doing this. All the big business umbrella organisations recognise that business case and support us in the campaign.There's lots of money to be spent out there. If you don't think creatively about how to make these arrangements you are missing out."

Mrs McGuire says businesses talk about the expense of lifts and ramps, but it was possible to make goods and services accessible without expensive construction work on buildings that were difficult to adapt.

"If you are a lawyer, do you offer home visits? If you are a pharmacist, do you offer a home collection service? Can you take goods and services to a person? It's about adjusting for better business and not necessarily focused on adaptions to buildings," she said.

Ian Wild, chief executive of the Showroom cinema and the Workstation cultural and digital industries complex, said the Showroom attracted disabled visitors thanks to its access ramps, automatic doors, infra red sound system and large print menus and programmes.

"We've had many positive comments," said Mr Wild. "We have quite a lot of regular wheelchair users. There are a lot of people suffering from industrial deafness in Sheffield and people with hearing disabilities like to come because of the sound transmitters. I hope we're starting to meet the needs of people with disabilities. The next thing we would like to offer is sub titles with English language films."