A BUSINESS leader is calling on the Government to adopt much more ambitious targets for rolling out high speed broadband for companies across Worcestershire.

Hartlebury based businessman and Federation of Small Businesses West Midlands spokesperson for Broadband, Ken Wigfield, said: ‘While the UK struggles to achieve decent Broadband speeds we see many businesses stagnate, our most able graduates leave the area, and even the country and our global competitors take business deals from under our nose. The UK is missing out on a huge scale. Government must do everything to empower businesses to expand and employ and in doing so strengthen local and national economic prosperity.’

His comments follow the publication of an FSB report which shows that nationally an estimated 45,000 firms still on dial up, and many more struggling with speeds lower than 2 Megabits per second (Mbps). Mr Wigfield added: "It is clear that while the residential market may be seeing the benefits of high speed broadband, this is often not the case for the business community. The UK’s forthcoming digital infrastructure strategy therefore needs to recognise this issue and put small businesses at the front and centre of future rollout plans, so that they can enjoy the benefits too."

The report reveals that an overwhelming majority (94 per cent) of small firm view a reliable internet connection as critical to the success of their business. The current Government targets of 24Mbps for 95 per cent of the population and 2Mbps for the remaining five per cent will not meet the future demands of UK businesses. Even in areas where households have high speed broadband, some businesses still struggle to send digital invoices, upload large files or even communicate with clients via the internet. The current targets will not allow for the UK’s ‘digital by default’ strategy or polices such as real time information that rely on reliable broadband to be delivered successfully.