John Lewell

Two major sets of Internet awards were announced in the U.K. this week: the seventh annual BT eBusiness Innovation Awards and the third annual Financial Times Business Web Site of the Year awards. At the awards ceremony sponsored by BT, the overall winner of the 1999 award for eBusiness Innovation went to M.A.R.S. plc, for […]

U.K.-based business incubator Protégé, which specialises in bringing North American Internet companies to Europe, has announced a $20 million deal to finance its activities. The investment comes from Global Retail Partners (GRP), a venture capital fund backed by Carrefour S.A, Paul Allen’s Vulcan Ventures and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. It is the first outside funding […]

U.K. community site Liv4now.com announced this week that it completed a $1 million round of financing with the U.S-based investment arm of Japan’s Trans Cosmos. Liv4now.com targets a young readership of people who like to socialise in clubs, buy products on the Internet, and trade stocks in cyberspace. It says it will use the money […]

Proteus Hosting launched a new web hosting service Monday, claiming that it offers more features per pound than any other in the U.K. The offering is an indication that the Internet hosting business in the U.K. is becoming as competitive as it is in the United States. For £199 (+ VAT) in the first year […]

Research from Bull Information Systems shows that the rise of e-commerce may have an influence on whether or not the UK adopts the single European currency. 28 per cent of firms surveyed said they thought e-commerce would increase the likelihood of their company trading with Europe in the short term. 30 per cent said they […]

Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Internet drive Monday hit a new venue — he has now given his full support to the BBC’s WebWise campaign to get people started on the Internet. “WebWise really is a terrific initiative to introduce people to the Internet,” said Blair. “I’m delighted to launch the BBC’s Autumn campaign and I’m […]

The Computer Information Centre has launched CompInfo-Center, a portal for IT directors, developers, and others involved in the IT industry. It will cover around 80 technical topics, with access to manufacturers, suppliers, news and events. “We aim to filter from the Internet the information that IT people at all levels need to carry out tasks […]

A new book is playing into Prime Minister Tony Blair’s efforts to drum up support for e-commerce this week. Blair is endorsed the URL2Trade Directory, an expensive new book that lists URLs of business resources and explains how to use them. “URL2Trade Directory is a prime example of the initiative that the Government is looking […]

A new Internet service from Telinco called “strayduck” plans to lure UK users with a new award program — toll-free and free ISP Internet access. It works like this: strayduck will award users some free time during the third week of use, based on the length of time they have spent online in the first […]

Canadian telecoms giant North American Gateway is bringing Internet access to the UK that is free from set-up costs, subscription fees and telephone charges. The service, named CallNet 800, will start on November 1. The move comes as a result of an initiative between North American Gateway, UK mobile phone retailer Phones4u, F1-Racing magazine and […]

Totalise may have touched off a new trend in the UK, with another Web site launching to enable customers to purchase cars cheaply from Europe. What’s more: OneSwoop is in partnership with Marks & Spencer Financial Services, adding a big-name comfort factor to the daring process of purchasing a car overseas. “We believe that buying […]

Internet auctioneer QXL.com has launched a new auction site in the Netherlands. The latest site, www.qxl.nl, is QXL.com’s fifth in Europe, following launches in France, Germany, Italy and the UK. “The launch in Holland is consistent with our European expansion strategy,” said Jim Rose, QXL.com’s CEO. “QXL.com auction sites in the UK, France, Germany and […]