FEMALE LEGAL EXPERT WINS UK ONLINE FOR BUSINESS / INTERFORUM ECOMMERCE AWARDS East of England finalist, MovingAhead with Pateman, pick up £30,000 prize in prestigious national ecommerce award for small businesses. Hertfordshire based legal practice, MovingAhead, run by the company’s former junior secretary, Kitty Pateman, has won the national final of the UK online for business / InterForum E-Commerce Awards 2001.

The company beat winners from 11 other regions and over 1,200 entrants - more than treble
the number of entrants from last year’s Awards.

Douglas Alexander, Minister for E-Commerce presented the company with a cheque for £30,000 at an awards ceremony held at The Grosvenor House Hotel, in London on Thursday 5th July 2001.

Mr. Alexander said: "This year’s E-Commerce Awards prove that small and medium sized businesses are leading the way in the use of technologies. Not only has the total number of small businesses entering this year increased, but also the quality of entry has improved, making the judging very difficult.

"My congratulations go to MovingAhead and to all the other 11 regional winners. These companies are pioneers of their fields, setting the pace for the future and should be seen as an inspiration for others to follow."

The annual awards, organised by UK online for business and InterForum, sponsored nationally by the Royal Bank of Scotland Group and Cisco Systems, recognise and reward excellence in the use of electronic business amongst companies with fewer than 250 employees throughout the UK.

MovingAhead specialises in conveyancing and the handling of all property related legal matters. Through its dedicated web site www.movingahead.co.uk, which features online quotations and a 24-hour tracking service, MovingAhead aims to provide the most efficient, cost effective and personal conveyancing service to house movers, estate agents and independent financial advisers across the UK.

Kitty Pateman’ husband, Jon, IT and Marketing Manager for the practice, commented:
"We see this as a vindication of our bold decision to build our business model around an ecommerce strategy. The Internet has allowed us to successfully differentiate ourselves from our industry competitors, the majority of whom are much larger and better resourced than ourselves."

Geoff Morris, Chairman of InterForum, said: "My congratulations to all the finalists, who are to be commended for their efforts. The increase in the standard of entry, as well as the variety and scope of entrants this year is indicative of the increasing maturity in the small business market and highlights the business benefits that e-commerce can bring."

For the first time in the three-year history of the Awards, two of the national E-Commerce Awards finalists received a special commendation. Simply Scuba, an online scuba store based in Faversham, Kent, was recognised after transforming from a small dive centre with brochure site and £250,000 turnover, to a full e-commerce solution with an online turnover in excess of £1 million.

Also recognised for its outstanding achievement was Ireland Freight Services, based in Co. Antrim. Established in 1967, the company is a multi-modal transport solution provider (4PL) that has continued to expand and adapt to change as the global need for innovative and improved logistic solutions arises.

For the second year running, there was also an ‘E-Business Start-Up’ category, which was won by Photobox Ltd, photography specialists providing digital image services to the UK/European consumer market.

Second place was won by 4thekitchen Ltd, a provider of full online solutions for the design and purchase of kitchen furniture and appliances.

Beating over 200 other entrants, Photobox Ltd was awarded a £10,000 cash prize and £10,000 worth of Internet server hardware from sponsors Sun Microsystems and Computacenter.

At the event, Douglas Alexander also launched e-Business Week 2001. Organised by the Information Age Partnership in support of UK online for business. The week will run between 8th and 12th October.

Douglas Alexander said: "To help UK businesses get to the future first, we are working in partnership with trade bodies and business organisations to open up every opportunity for small businesses.

"The e-Business Week will help companies across the UK to move up the e-business adoption ladder and increase their awareness of the support and advice available."