A Ladybank man, who triumphed over personal adversity to successfully establish his own business, has been named a Bronze Winner in the 2008 Barclays Trading Places Awards.

Brad Stewart, who started Blitz Discos, was presented with a commemorative certificate, at a black tie dinner at the Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square, London. Brad also walked away with £1100 worth of Microsoft desktop and server software.

Brad was just 20 when he was involved in a horrific car crash which took the life of one of his best friends and left him paralysed from the waist down.

A builder who had planned one day to take over his father's business, he had to face the fact that his life would never be the same.

Years of unemployment followed until Brad mentioned in a conversation with Fife Council's disability employment coordinator that he was interested in starting a mobile disco business. A 'Training for Work Self-Employment' course put him on track and, after six months' training, Blitz Discos was on the road.

It has not all been plain sailing. Brad needed specially-adapted equipment and has had to employ a ''roadie'' to move kit and help him into venues with limited access.

But nothing has deterred him from his goal of independence and Blitz Discos is a healthy business, growing steadily. There are bookings as far head as 2010 and Brad now takes his music to weddings, birthdays, anniversaries and corporate events all over central Scotland.

Ambitious plans to expand the business include audio visual presentations and, eventually, employing more DJs to take the Blitz name further afield. Most of all, the business has given Brad Stewart a future he thought he'd lost.

"Your life changes dramatically when you have an accident like mine," he said, "but it doesn't need to stop."

John Davis, Barclays marketing director for local business and a judge on the panel, said: "The caliber of this year's entries was exceptional but the judges unanimously agreed that Blitz Discos shone out as an outstanding business that has thrived despite what seemed like impossible odds.

"All of us congratulate Brad on being named a Bronze Winner and we hope his story will inspire other budding entrepreneurs, who face similar difficulties in there private lives, to come forward and turn their own business dreams into reality."

The government backed Awards, now in their fourth year, are supported by Jobcentre Plus, The Prince's Trust, the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), The National Federation of Enterprise Agencies (NFEA) and Microsoft.

The judging panel included Sophie Beesley of The Prince's Trust, Eileen Thomson of Jobcentre Plus, Ann Carter-Gray of BERR, Julian Price of Microsoft, George Derbyshire of the NFEA and Jane Fletcher of Leonard Cheshire Disability.