DTI guns for fat cat bosses at Internet World

Posted on 3 Jun 2003 at 18:01

The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Patricia Hewitt MP, gave the opening keynote speech for Internet World & Smarter Business 2003 at Earls Court London.

She used the occasion to confirm that that her department would be launching a consultation process on whether legislation is required to restrict over-generous payments to unsuccessful business executives.

While citing the role that British entrepreneurs had played in launching hi-tech products and services within the UK, she said that 'big rewards for big success' were not an issue. 'I have a problem,' she said 'with huge rewards for huge failure'. She also quoted 'dot-commery' as another example of executive-level mismanagement.

She cited the British inventiveness that lay behind the development of computers and the World Wide Web but also the failure to reap commercial benefits - that such innovation 'gets turned into great products and profitable companies in other parts of the world.'

Internet World and Smarter Business 2003, which also includes the Mobile Enterprise Event runs 3-5 June.

The show was launched with new figures covering use of the Internet by small businesses. A survey from Continental Research indicates that 70 per cent of small business have invested in the Internet over the last two years. The survey suggests that companies save five man hours per day by using Net based systems, which it translates to a value of £14.5k per company year based on the average hourly wage.