Ufi hopes new ecommerce platform will boost revenue

The University for Industry (Ufi) is to use ecommerce to cut its reliance on the public purse.

The government’s online learning project, which is responsible for Learndirect, launched in 1998 through a public-private partnership to help over-16s boost their job potential, but has struggled to attract external investment.

Computing revealed in December 2004 that Ufi had spent almost £1bn of public money, and a recent Public Accounts Committee report says the organisation had generated just £12m in commercial income by July 2005.

Ufi wants to boost commercial input to £44m each year by 2011 and hopes a new ecommerce platform for small firms will generate annual revenue of £20m.

‘The platform will provide short, business-based courses that are designed around the problems that keep small business managers awake at night,’ says Michelle Lofthouse, director of business development at Ufi.

Ufi piloted ecommerce in August 2005 and Lofthouse says a new system will increase revenue.

‘We want to enable skills development and mentoring, such as blended learning,’ says Lofthouse.

A full rollout of the system is expected from January 2007. It will be launched in a series of stages and will seamlessly replace the pilot application.