From the age of six, Keisha Clarke dreamt about running her own clothes shop. Her dream is now a reality with "9.2.5" selling women's business clothing and stylish "dress down Friday" attire in Court Street.

And the opening of 9.2.5 is not the end of the story as far as Miss Clarke is concerned. She has a vision of a 9.2.5 for men and a more general clothing outlet becoming part of her retail empire.

For now she is happy to see her first shop doing healthy business. Her main day job is as a project manager with Transact, so the day-to-day running of the shop is in the hands of Jennifer Levon, someone who Miss Clarke says gives "excellent customer service".

The shop evolved from a home-based clothing business Miss Clarke ran, which she called "N'compo" (no competition).

"I would send out e-mails to people to tell them what I had and see what they wanted," explained the 36-year-old.

Running a business from home was one thing, but getting actual shop premises was always her ultimate aim and that opportunity presented itself late last year when the shop formerly known as Tiffany's became available.

After being cleaned up and decorated with the assistance of painting outfit NBP, 9.2.5 opened its doors and has seen a good level of custom with many of Miss Clarke's "N'compo" clients staying loyal.

The shop's name reflects the predominately business world clothing range, and the two dots in the name represent Miss Clarke's sons, teenager Kejaun and Darron, eight.

A successful shop, and possibly a number of others, is her retirement plan and what she has always dreamt about. "I'd like to do a 9.2.5 for men and have a N'compo which would be casual clothing," she said.

Being based in Court Street, as opposed to the centre of Hamilton, also has its advantages for Miss Clarke. For one thing she was born and brought up here and for another she is able to stay open until 7 p.m. rather than closing at 5 or 5.30 p.m. as other stores do in town.

"We're open later, the quality of the clothes are better, the prices are better and we have excellent customer service," she said.

So what makes someone as focused and determined as Miss Clarke tick?

As she looks to the future as a shop owner, she produces a small quotation written down on a piece of paper. It reads: "When you are content to simply be yourself and don't compare or compete, everybody will respect you."