Online support failing small business

SMALL firms are being let down by Government-approved advisers on buying and selling online, according to a damning report from the British Chambers of Commerce to be published on Monday.

The consultants are often badly trained and poor value for money, according to the BCC. The news is another blow to Tony Blair's declared aim of turning Britain into the best place in the world for e-commerce by 2005. The Government is running a high-profile TV campaign for its 'UK online for business'.

E-Commerce Minister Douglas Alexander will be told in a meeting with the BCC tomorrow that the Government should fund free internet training assessments for small and medium-sized firms if Britain is not to be left behind.

These assessments would decide the exact training needs for each business, helping to ensure that firms do not waste their time and money. Poor accreditation procedures for e-business consultants provided through the Government's Business Links network mean that there are vast differences in the quality of information small companies receive.

These consultants are free to charge what they want and can recommend their own products and services. The BCC will suggest a review of how the Government chooses the business advisers, which last year serviced 160,000 small businesses.

It will also recommend that business advice is offered to companies through one source rather than a range of advisers in different fields. Sally Low, an adviser at the BCC, said: 'If we want to produce world-class businesses, we need world-class business support.

'The quality of advisers on e-commerce is patchy. Ultimately, this can end up in businesses getting the wrong advice and sometimes the wrong suggestions on the IT investments they must make.'