DDU Newsletter for July 2008: Issue 57

Monthly news and events from Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council's Digital Development Unit...

Included in this edition:

Specialist event to help you make the most of your business website

Free trial announced for businesses to access public sector tenders online

East Lancs inventor, helped by the DDU, wins a top environmental award

Does your website stop the phone from ringing?

So you get lots of hits but no enquiries or sales, what’s going wrong? This free event is intended to help you as a web site owner and operator look for the reasons why you may get lots of traffic but not enough enquiries or sales.

This event is intended to help managers and owners of web sites be aware of the features, functions and irritations which can turn customers away.

We will discuss how to understand the "customer’s journey” on your web site, measure conversion ratio, what is the difference between hits and genuine visits and lots of do’s and don’ts which can maker a big difference.

Date: Thursday 31st July, 8:00 for 8:30 start

Venue: Conference Room, Blackburn Technology Management Centre, Challenge Way, Blackburn BB1 5QB Directions

View full schedule and Book online >>

Free access to lower-value national contracts

The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) has announced a three month free UK trial of lower-value tender opportunities on Supply2.gov.uk.

Registrants will be notified of contract opportunities, relevant to their business, to encourage them to tender for Government contracts, valued at less than £100,000 - throughout the UK. Lower-value (typically below £100,000) public sector contracts are a prime opportunity for small businesses to sell to the government.

More than 88,000 contract notices have been published on Supply2.gov.uk so far, and over 5200 buyers from across the UK public sector - including local government, health, education, housing authorities, emergency services and the Olympic Development Authority - have registered with the service, which is regarded as a best-practice means of promoting lower-value contract opportunities.

The free trial is part of the Government's Strategy released in March 2008, which outlined new measures to increase the amount of government business that is won by small firms.

The free trial is the perfect opportunity for small businesses. Once the three-month free national trial is over, access will revert to the free local area specified at registration - ensure you do not miss out, register now at www.supply2.gov.uk.

You must register before 31 July 2008 to benefit from the 3-month free national trial.

News stories for July 2008

Doris Systems achieve top honours

An Inventor whose kitchen table project has turned into a worldwide enterprise, has received a top Green business award. Nelson entrepreneur Ray Britner's Doris Systems Global Ltd finished second in the North West Development Agency's environmental innovation category with his revolutionary blast cleaning system. The system was offically adopted by Pendle Council last August as a graffitti buster and the product has since gone global. Ray has been advised and assisted by the No-Limits DDU Eureka programme to establish firm patent protection of his ideas internationally as a system so successful as this may well tempt others to copy" “Inventors like me tend to be lunatics, because you’ve got to think outside the box, so very few of us are fortunate enough to have people believing in them as people have in me.”

Photograph of Ray Brtiner and Pendle Councillor Gary Bird - supplied by the Nelson Leader

Deen Motorsports powers ahead

With support from the DDU, Deen Motorsports has developed a professional content managed and e-commerce enabled website that will promote the business to an international market and showcase the products they offer. The client is now trading online and in the first week took a significant overseas order.