Geoff Adams-Spink BBC News website disability affairs reporter

When the government recently announced that disabled people in the UK have a combined spending power of �80bn, many people were surprised at how large the figure was and wondered whether businesses were making the most of their opportunity to get a slice of the cake.

Accessible shops are more likely to attract the 'disabled pound'

Most of us in disability circles had been working on the assumption that disabled people spent �50bn a year, so the new figure represented a whopping 60% hike.

Was this because disabled people were slowly but surely moving into the world of work, generating more wealth and narrowing the gap between them and non-disabled people?

Not according to disability minister, Maria Eagle.

She thinks the new figure can be accounted for by more accurate calculations.

"The previous figure was based on old, outdated assumptions about the number of disabled people," she told BBC News.

"This isn't an indication of a sudden increase in spending power - it's an indication of better statistics."

The underlying figure on which spending power was based has recently been revised upwards: previously it was thought that there were 8.5m disabled adults in the UK, but after the results of the 2001 census that figure became 10m.

The Department of Work and Pensions, which released the new spending figures, says it is basing its calculations on a method similar to that used to calculate women's spending power.

This, the DWP says, is far more accurate and, in any case, it hadn't come up with the old �50bn figure in the first place.

Either way, Maria Eagle says the message for business is difficult to ignore.

Maria Eagle says businesses must seize the opportunity

"This isn't just about us all being nice to disabled people," she said.

"There's a great business opportunity out there...if you're trying to make a good living and decent profits, can you afford to ignore between 15 and 20% of the population?"

The CBI agrees that �80bn is too great an opportunity to miss.

"We believe everybody has a responsibility to challenge prejudices, to raise understanding and systematically to knock down barriers which disabled people face," a spokesperson said.

It says the enterprises best placed to do this would be those that have disabled people on their staff.

"CBI members strongly supported the introduction of the Disability Discrimination Act in 1995, and it has proved to be a powerful piece of reforming legislation which has done a great deal to promote the dignity of disabled people."

Steps could encourage some customers to hurry past

If the wealth of disabled people is to increase, those concerned with promoting equality of employment say more should be done to encourage businesses to take on more disabled workers.

"Since 1997 the number of people on incapacity benefit has actually gone up," said Nick Edwards of Disability Matters - a consultancy that specialises in promoting jobs for disabled people.

Mr Edwards says that while the banking sector and other large businesses have made significant progress in employing disabled people, there is room for improvement elsewhere.

"Manufacturing and SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) need to do more," he said.