Website scrappage scheme launched
A Birmingham-based digital media company has launched a "website scrappage" scheme.
Run by Blackjack Media, it offers companies the chance to have a new website built at a discounted rate. That's if it fails to meet "internationally recognised standards" in areas such as user friendliness, accessibility for disabled users and a lack of exposure on major search engines such as Google and Yahoo.
Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures showing website sales are now annually worth more than £220bn to the UK economy. The scheme aims to offer companies the chance to cash in on what is an increasingly lucrative sales platform.
More companies than ever are choosing the internet as a platform to launch their business. According to the ONS, the proportion of businesses using the internet to sell rose from 14.4 per cent in 2007 to 15.2 per cent in 2008.
Munish Sharma, managing director of Blackjack Media, said: “With the coalition government putting a big emphasis on getting businesses back on their feet, I think this scheme has come at the perfect time. Statistics show that the internet for many people is the first port of call when shopping for a product or service. We want to help local companies take advantage of this by getting their website up to the required standards so that they can capitalise.”
