One of the country's most prominent business women has said there is still a stigma surrounding suicide.

Sallyanne Clarke has made the shortlist for the Image Business Woman of the Year.

Her teenage son Andrew took his own life last Christmas at the family home she shares with her husband celebrity chef Derry Clarke.

Sallyanne now works with the charity TeenLine and says four out of five calls come from girls, but boys are more likely to text when they need help.

She said she initially stayed silent about her son's death.

“We didn’t talk to anybody, we didn’t tell anybody anything. Yes our hope obviously was that he would get up, walk away and we would never have to discuss it and you know there is a stigma with suicide, there still is, I think there always will be that,” Mrs Clarke said.

“Some people will be very sympathetic, others don’t know how to deal with it, it’s a difficult one.”