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Farnborough based web design firm Orcare (www.orcare.com) has partnered with Google, Enterprise UK, the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, BT and e-skills UK to support a joint initiative to get 100,000 UK businesses online.

Getting British Business Online (GBBO) will target the 1.5 million UK businesses that do not currently have a website, giving them the opportunity to create a free professional website and access to training and support. Orcare, the first company in North Hampshire to become a campaign partner, is supporting the initiative by providing practical workshops where business owners can get training and advice while building their first website using the campaign’s toolkit.

Commenting on their involvement with Getting British Business Online, Paul Marden, Orcare;s Director, said: “It is amazing that in the 15 years since the growth of the web that so many small businesses are not taking advantage of the web as a tool to increase their profile and help them to sell more. For some the barrier is cost and for others its knowledge and skills that are preventing them from selling online. Our campaign helps to solve both of these problems.”

Businesses that sign up to Getting British Business Online will be given a free .co.uk web address that will be automatically registered in Google’s search engine, a new ‘wizard’ tool that will help them create a website in 20 minutes businesses and ways to attract new customers online. BT will offer free phone support to participants, PayPal will soon enable businesses with a GBBO-powered website to turn their site into an ecommerce platform in just a few clicks. This means they can begin selling to customers and accepting payments quickly and securely via the web.

Commenting on the launch of Getting British Business Online, Matt Brittin, UK Managing Director, said: “Consumer behaviour is changing rapidly as people increasingly turn to the web to find information about local businesses and services. With over 40 million people in the UK now online there has never been a better time for small businesses to use the Internet, enabling them to reach new customers in new markets. We hope a free, easy-to create website will give small businesses the boost they need to get up and running.”

Orcare’s first free workshop will take place on 25th August at the firm’s offices in Farnborough, workshops are also planned for Bracknell, Basinstoke and Reading later in the year.

To learn more and register for this event, follow the weblink.