Britain takes online business lead

More and more British employees are logging on

Britain has been holding its own in the world of e-commerce, according to a new government report.

A study of the nation's online activity showed that 27% of the UK's businesses were now using the internet.

The figures showed that the UK leads the world in using the internet for transactions between customers, companies and their suppliers.

The study also showed that technological advances were not confined to the cities.

The UK is leading the world in internet transactions

The internet take-up was highest in Scotland, with 29% of businesses trading online.

Charlie Watt, director of e-business at Scottish Enterprise, said companies were recognising the benefits of the internet.

He said: "When you actually look at the figures more closely what you find is that, although some businesses are not trading online, 79% of businesses have an online presence.

"That can be heavy use of email, for example, or a web presence.

"So indeed most companies in Scotland have some form of e-commerce capability."

Dominant force

The government was expected to welcome the report, which was in contrast to allegations that the UK has been falling behind its neighbours.

Ministers have asserted that the UK is on a par with the USA, Canada, Germany and Sweden in the amount of business being done online.

A recent report by accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers hailed Germany as the dominant force in European e-commerce.

But critics were expected to question the value of the latest study which described a firm as "online" if it sent or received the occasional email.