Single government website for business launched

The government announced on Monday a single site for UK commerce – designed to give firms a single access point for all business information and services.

The site, www.businesslink.gov.uk, is designed with SMEs in mind and offers pointers and advice on everything from starting up a business to closing it down, including tax, marketing and international trade tips. There are also sections on rules and regulations and one dedicated to IT and ecommerce, which explains a range of techie terms and how to do business online.

The site will also be updated over the next six months to allow users to interact with it and then offer ideas and feedback on how to improve it.

Speaking at the CBO conference, Jacqui Smith, trade and industry minister, said: "Business owners often tell us they don't know which rules and regulations they need to consider. By taking our lead from business we have also been able to bring together services and information, from many government departments, in a way that is more relevant to their business needs."

While the government's much–publicised fondness for putting services online saw it come top in a recent poll of e-government around the world, Stephen Timms, commerce minister, revealed last week at a 3G Enterprise Alliance conference that the government had a long way to go to get e-government into the hands of the public.

"We're on track to meet our target [to get all government services online by 2005]", he said. "But as for increasing take-up, we haven't done so well on that score."

He may well be fighting an uphill battle. Figures from the UN show that only one in five people around the world will use e-government services.