eBUSINESS CLUBS HELP 12,000 SMEs UNDERSTAND THE BENEFITS OF TECHNOLOGY 

The British Chambers of Commerce delivers e-business advice via the existing Chambers of Commerce network, fostering and developing e-business for its members by working to identify and spread best practice.

Over 12,000 businesses have been helped to increase their use and understanding of information technology and its business benefits in the first year of the eBusiness Clubs partnership. 

The eBusiness Clubs have been developed by the British Chambers of Commerce in partnership with UK online for Business, BT, Hewlett-Packard and O2. The eBusiness Clubs aim to provide small-to-medium enterprises, (SMEs) with the essential information and help they need to blend e-business practices into their businesses. The clubs offer advice and expertise to help businesses use IT and get online by providing an impartial forum for members to network and share best practice whilst the Partners have the opportunity to gain greater insight into the needs of UK businesses. Members gain a clearer understanding of how technology can revolutionise and improve business processes by cutting costs, reducing administration and increasing efficiency. In its second year the eBusiness Clubs will continue to be supported through a nationwide partnership managed by the British Chambers of Commerce with UK online for business, BT, HP and a new sponsor, O2.

David Frost, Director-General of the BCC, said, “The BCC and its partners are bringing British business into the 21st Century. We surpassed all our expectations by helping an astonishing 12,000 businesses get more from technology. After the successes of the first year BCC and its partners aim to recruit another 18,000 new businesses to the clubs in the second year – providing even more businesses across the country with access to first class expertise from some of the UK’s leading e-business practitioners. The eBusiness Clubs are just another valuable service provided to British business at a local level via the Accredited Chamber of Commerce network.”

Stephen Timms MP, Minister of State for eCommerce and Competitiveness, said, “The eBusiness Clubs are another important part of making the UK the best place for e-business in the world by helping businesses improve efficiency, productivity and competitiveness through more effective use of ICTs. The partnership shows how Government and the private sector can work together to encourage business growth throughout the UK.” 

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For further information please contact:

MEDIA ENQUIRIES:
Ron Hepburn/ Olly Scott
College Hill
020 7457 2020
07971 901 837 
olly.scott@collegehill.com 
www.collegehill.com  

MEMBERSHIP/BUSINESS ENQUIRIES: 
www.ebusinessclubs.co.uk or 
James Brace 
Business Development Project Manager 
The British Chambers of Commerce
+44 (0) 2476 472 532 
j.brace@britishchambers.org.uk 
www.chamberonline.co.uk 


Notes to Editors:

1. Where are eBusiness partnerships operating?

• Birmingham
• East Lancashire
• East Midlands – Nottingham, Derby, Northampton, Leicester, Chesterfield, Lincolnshire
• Essex – Chelmsford, Enfield, Colchester, Brentwood, Ilford, Romford
• Scotland – Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow
• Thames Valley – Slough, Reading, Oxford
• Manchester
• Norfolk – Norwich, Kings Lynn
• Surrey – Guildford, Woking, Kingston
• Sheffield
• Wales – Cardiff, Swansea, Newport, Bangor
• West Yorkshire – Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, Huddersfield, Hull and Humber

2. What will the eBusiness Clubs offer the partners?

• A channel to market – an opportunity to influence the small business market place. With over 11,000 existing members as a result of the pilot phase, and impressive targets of a further 17,800 registered member businesses in the second year, eBusiness Clubs is the only programme of such magnitude in the UK.
• Access to third party influencers – partnering with the Accredited Chambers of Commerce, UK online for Business, the Business Link network and Regional Development Agencies, there is a unique opportunity to take advantage of local and regional relationships with principal business support service infrastructure across the UK. 
• Continued partnership – by strengthening its engagement in this market, the partners further align with the work of UK online for Business and the BCC through a holistic approach to the promotion of the eCommerce Awards.

3. British Chambers of Commerce
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) represents, through a quality assured UK network of Accredited Chambers of Commerce, more than 135,000 businesses of all sizes in all sectors of the economy. Accredited Chambers seek to represent the interests and support the competitiveness and growth of all businesses in their communities and regions. 

(4) UK online for business is a partnership between Government and industry and promotes the use of e-commerce amongst small and medium sized businesses. There is a network of UK online for business advisers situated in the Business Links in England and their equivalents in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. These advisers provide down to earth, practical and impartial advice to individual businesses on how technology can cut time and cost from the way they do business. For further information call 0845 715 2000 or visit www.ukonlineforbusiness.gov.uk