UK e-business shrugs off the dotcom slump

Findings in The Quiet Revolution, a study published earlier this week by KPMG Consulting and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), indicated that, despite the publicity surrounding dotcom failures, projects within UK companies are increasingly using Internet technology to transform business processes.

Research into the activities of 1,000 UK companies showed that although 76% were currently generating just under 5% of their turnover from e-business, some 58% expect their e-business turnover to increase dramatically over the next two to three years, rising to at least 10% of total revenues.

Up to 93% of UK companies have addressed e-business in their corporate strategy over the past two years, and nearly all respondents - 99% - said they expected e-business to have a serious impact on their bottom line within the next two years.

Speaking at a Conservative Business Liaison Unit conference on Monday, Digby Jones, director-general of the CBI, said the results showed that e-business had come of age. "The rise and fall of the dotcoms was just the first wave. The second wave is now on, led by mainstream companies."