Member Article

e-commerce is child's play

A group of Sixth Formers at All Saints College in Newcastle have been working with Newcastle City Council’s StepChange initiative to develop their knowledge about what is needed to trade electronically, and to take the results of the study out into the business community. The research has been supported by ethical new media and e-commerce company POINT OV, Washington Lighting, and the sponsorship of an easy to use set of web site development tools. As a result of this support, the BTEC IT course students have successfully followed a design template and created a website through which they aim initially to sell school uniforms.

Deryck Harlick, Managing Director, Mancala who provided the software tools and advises on this project said: “It is very important for the future of the North East economy that we develop skills in the areas of new media and e-commerce. This project has the benefit of reaching learners who are still in school. By developing these skills and showing how easy it can be to trade online, we hope that learners will stay in the North East and share their knowledge with future employees or use their skills for the benefit of their own businesses.”

Diane Haworth, Business and Enterprise Manager at All Saints College said: “The StepChange project has provided an excellent opportunity for the college and the students to link with the business community in an extremely relevant and beneficial way. It has provided the students with real life skills and exposure to problems which do happen in business. They have also seen the lifecycle of a project and had business advice at every stage.

StepChange is a free service that provides advice, access to training, improved IT equipment, enhanced data security, websites and information on public sector tenders to businesses throughout the North East. To find out how Internet technology can help your business call 0191 2111982 or visit www.step-change.org.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .