Britain's SMEs are racing to get on-line, but more remains to be done

TrainingZone

Britain’s SMEs are racing to get on-line, but more remains to be done

By TrainingZone

Small businesses have smashed the Government's target for getting online, Prime Minister Tony Blair and e-Minister Patricia Hewitt announced today at the launch of 'UK online'.

1.7 million small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are now online, according to figures from the DTI's forthcoming International Benchmarking Study. This is an increase of 1.1 million over last year and exceeds the Government's target of getting 1.5 million businesses online by 2002 two years early.

Other figures released today include:

81% of UK businesses are now online compared with 63% last year;
9 out of 10 of the UK's workforce work in businesses connected to the Internet;
55% of micro businesses (those with less than 10 employees) are now online compared to 15% last year;
27% of UK companies are trading online, of which 450,000 are SMEs.

The Prime Minister and Patricia Hewitt also announced £15 million of funding for UK online for business (formerly the Information Society Initiative - ISI). This is in addition to the £10 million announced in this year's budget. The money will be used for expanding UK online for business and providing a further 100 advisers.

E-Minister Patricia Hewitt said, "This is good news. Businesses are responding to the challenges of the information revolution and seizing the opportunities it presents. However, there is still more to be done. We must continue to work towards our target of getting one million
SMEs trading on-line by 2002. The challenge now is not just getting connected but succeeding online using the new ways of working that e-commerce and new e-businesses practices bring. That is why we are providing £25 million to expand and improve the assistance we provide through UK online for business to help our SMEs succeed in the knowledge driven economy."

'UK online' is a partnership between Government, industry, the voluntary sector, trade unions and consumer groups aimed at getting people, business and Government online.

The Prime Minister today announced three packages of initiatives under 'UK online' to achieve these aims.