Business owners have been told to look at new disability legislation in a "positive light".
Jackie Wright, of Disability Dynamics, was speaking at a meeting of the Worthing and Adur branch of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).
She said disabled people were "very loyal" and employing them meant a bigger pool of potential recruits.
The Disability Discrimination Act was introduced in 1996 and is still being phased in.
In October busineses will have to remove physical features which make it unreasonably difficult for disabled people to use a service.
This has raised fears among the business community about the potential costs of making alterations to premises.
Ms Wright said: "Most improvements aimed at helping disabled people will also benefit others - 40 per cent of the population will be over 45 by the year 2010. Being positive about disability makes good business sense."
FSB branch secretary Roger Foregard said: "The message to businesses is they need to look at their working practices and make reasonable adjustments where necessary."
Wednesday February 18, 2004
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