BT Regions focuses itself on a balanced strategy of working with partners to support and encourage business growth, to foster effort in becoming more responsible towards the environment through sustainable business practices, and to work at combating the digital divide for disadvantaged sections of society.
Small businesses are at the heart of UK enterprise, accounting for 52% of UK turnover, and equivalent to a £1,200 billion contribution to our economy. And self-employment represents over two-thirds of UK businesses and is an increasing trend. Although the number of small firms is at a record high of around four million, around 50% of start-ups fail within the first four years so it’s important that new business start-ups are encouraged and supported.
Information and communication technology (ICT) has an important role to play here by helping increase productivity, opening up new markets at home and potentially abroad, allowing faster and more efficient response and providing an extra channel for customer service.
BT Regions and our colleagues across BT work with many agencies and organisations involved in supporting and fostering small businesses to help raise the level of businesses’ understanding of the role and benefits of ICT.
The availability of broadband across the UK has transformed the way people work. People are no longer tied to their desks, there are increasing opportunities for them to work from home and many can mix working from different locations – home, office and other locations – to reduce the need to travel with all the resulting lower energy use.
Flexible working is a key enabler of a more efficient and effective economy too, offering cost savings and reducing economic inactivity. For public sector bodies, flexible working could contribute to the 2.5% efficiency gains that Government is currently demanding. For businesses, they can retain skilled employees with other commitments and can have wider access to skills outside their catchment area.
So flexible working is a triple win – for enterprise (helping to improve efficiency and productivity, for example), people (providing a better work-life balance) and the environment (by reducing reliance on travel and transport). However, UK organisations, particularly SMEs, have been slow to implement flexible working largely due to a lack of understanding concerning the costs of implementation and the ability to quantify business benefits.
As an early adopter of flexible working, BT can offer practical advice and solutions to help overcome the barriers. BT Regions works with partners to help stimulate and educate businesses and organisations of all sizes and sectors to fully understand the benefits of flexible working and help them to grasp the clear opportunities.
Tackling social exclusion is a top priority for the Government. It’s bad for individuals, for communities, for the nation.
But we now live in a digital age and access to information and communications technology (ICT) can improve peoples’ lives, opening doors to education, jobs, entertainment and improving family contact. Access to simple communications technology – broadband connected PCs – can help close the social divide that threatens to marginalise millions of citizens. ICT can provide economic support to under-represented groups and communities. Through digital inclusion, individual’s lives, communities and society in general can all be improved.
Sadly some people cannot – or are unwilling or feel unable – to gain access to this new technology that the rest of us take or granted. Digital exclusion is a social problem as well as a business issue, affecting the ability of businesses to recruit and upskill people and improve productivity and so better compete nationally and globally. And for the public sector, digital exclusion limits the opportunities of education, information and knowledge afforded by online services.
Digital exclusion needs to be tackled. The long term solution to digital exclusion can only be achieved through partnership working between industry, government and the voluntary sector.
BT plays a major part here with schemes running in conjunction with other organisations to encourage and support people in getting connected. BT Regions works closely with our colleagues in the BT Corporate Social Responsibility team to develop and implement programme across the regions and nations that help develop more inclusive communities.
