Google boss in website drive
The managing director of Google UK has launched a drive to urge more West Midlands small businesses to get online. Matt Brittin told Insider that 100,000 of the region's 300,000 businesses to do not have a website and face being left behind in the digital "revolution".
Google is now supporting the Getting British Business Online project, which helps small businesses set up a free website and get online "inside 20 minutes". He was on hand to help businesses out at an event at Birmingham's Custard Factory last night.
He told Insider: "My message as part of Google is to help the UK get the most out of the internet. There are a lot of businesses getting a lot of sales and leads through websites.
"We want to make sure businesses are not missing out on this (digital) revolution."
Brittin gave examples of Birmingham businesses which have used the new Getting British Business Online website to get online including personal training business Stretch 'n' Stamina and catering company The Cupcake Bistro.
He said of the Cupcake Bistro, which has attracted half of its leads through its website since May: "This was a company with ten years of catering experience offering a range of cupcakes. They have got a website and it is really looking professional."
Brittin said he was attending avents across the UK to encourage more businesses to go online as "the story of the small business and the internet hasn't really been told in the UK". While he admitted Google could benefit from more consumers going online to find businesses, the company was not "making any money out of it" and was trying to "make the internet a better place for businesses".
He also said the company was looking to develop open source mobile phone technology through its Android system which he thinks small businesses could use to sell and promote their products. Google research shows a third of Britain's internet users now regularly go online through their handsets and it is something the company is looking to develop through its "mobile engineering centre".
When asked if Google UK would develop more of a presence in the regions, he said: "We have offices in London and Manchester at the moment. We don't have any plans to do more just yet - it depends how successful we can be."
