A HUDDERSFIELD woman is among an army of “unseen” helpers celebrating their role in the smooth running of Britain’s businesses.

Sarah Gathercole and colleagues at Mosaic Virtual Office Ltd took part in the third annual International Virtual Assistants’ Day, a celebration of the work done by agencies providing secretarial support and telephone answering services to small and medium-sized firms.

Yesterday’s eventwas run by the Alliance for Virtual Businesses, an umbrella body for so-called virtual assistants – independent entrepreneurs who work remotely and use the latest technology to deliver professional administrative support services to busy professionals.

Clients pay only for the time spent on their work, which can range from general secretarial and word processing services to desktop publishing, bookkeeping and telephone answering.

Virtual assistants are also responsible for their own workspace, equipment, taxes and training, overheads that make hiring an employee expensive.

Longwood-based Mosaic offers a service to small and medium-size businesses that don’t have their own in-house secretaries and administrators.

Jobs range from stuffing letters into envelopes, telephone answering, support for training courses or permanent “front office” services.

Director and proprietor Ms Gathercole has more than 18 years’ experience in secretarial and administrative work, in roles ranging from office junior to conference manager, in both the public and private sectors. She is a member of the Institute of Qualified and Professional Secretaries.

The team, which includes virtual receptionists Jane Furness, Angela Haigh and Jackie Nichols, have previous experience in banking, retailing and education.

Sharon Williams, founder of the Alliance for Virtual Businesses, said: “Virtual assistants are making important contributions to the growth and stability of small businesses everywhere.

“The establishment of International Virtual Assistants’ Day simply acknowledges all of those virtual professionals who work so hard.”