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Digital Transformation

Move into the digital age to help your firm progress

Online backup and other digital services could help your firm evolve.

With businesses moving more and more towards the use of technology for their key operations, it has become important to embrace the digital age.

This could involve investing in the online backup of files to ensure that data is protected in the event of an incident at your firm’s facilities.

Another potential area that firms could benefit from improving is internet access, with secretary of state for communities Eric Pickles highlighting this as one of the key things the government looks for when nominating an area as an enterprise zone or centre of innovation.

"There are basically three elements of make-up. There is tax discount, which you will obviously understand. There is the availability of super-fast broadband, but there is also a thing called a local development order, which is a simplified planning regime," he said.

"We are really keen to get these things going because the last enterprise zones really were about – not intentionally but by circumstance – a process of dispersement so you were actually moving jobs about the country."

The minister added that the government wants to choose specific industries to help give them a boost.

Mr Pickles added that he has been delighted by the way the applicants who have been rejected have responded and noted that even those who fail in their attempt to get government backing can still benefit from putting things in place to improve their lot.

"The thing that’s really pleased me about them is those who weren’t successful – we’ve done I think 21 or 22 enterprise zones – is that it is relatively easy for a local authority to set the equivalent to an enterprise zone ‘lite’," he said.

"We can produce just about everything with exception on the tax discount but you will be able to do that. After Christmas the power will be with local authorities."