Google event targets Midlands businesses

GLOBAL internet giant Google is targeting the West Midlands with a drive to get more businesses to create their own websites.

The company’s UK MD Matt Brittin will next week try to persuade an audience of business owners that getting online is not as hard or as costly as they might expect, as part of Google ’s ‘Getting British Business Online’ initiative. Other partners in th drive include the IoD and BT.

The event takes place on Thursday, 30 September from 6.30pm at the Custard Factory in Birmingham, and is chaired by Marc Reeves, editor of TheBusinessDesk.com. West Midlands entrepreneur Angela Maxwell OBE will also be speaking.

Mr Brittin said:“Google is delighted to come to Bimingham. With the vast majority of the UK population now online, it has never been more important for small businesses to develop an online presence. We want to help demonstrate how quick and easy setting up a website can be.”
 
As many as 1.5 million businesses in the UK do not have a website, but Google is promising to show them how they can get online with a free website in just 20 minutes.

Do you have a corporate profile on TheBusinessDesk.com? Click here to find out more.

Launched at the start of 2010, the Getting British Business Online campaign claims to have helped more than 75,000 UK businesses design and launch a free website with their own .co.uk address

Those wishing to attend should register at www.gbbo.co.uk , but places are limited and those interested are urged to register quickly.

Kirit Thakore, a personal trainer in Birmingham and one of the first people to use the tool said: “I decided to build a website about five months ago. My business had been growing healthily, but I felt I needed a web presence to take it to the next level. ‘Getting British Business Online’ was perfect for me. It was clear and very easy to use, as well as being completely free. It’s led to at least 20 new customers.”

Getting British Business Online is a joint initiative by Google, BIS, Enterprise UK, e-skills, BT, PayPal, the IoD and other business organisations.

 

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