Bradford Chamber of Commerce is urging businesses to exploit a new 'technology tax break'.

The group says few firms have taken up the 100 per cent tax allowances in IT investment introduced earlier this year.

Running until March 2003, the government brought in the measure to encourage small firms to plough ahead with new technology - identified by Yorkshire Forward as one of the region's strongest growth fields.

The Chamber is now calling on the district's small or medium-sized enterprise (SMEs) to take the online trading challenge.

Project Co-ordinator of the organisation's E-Commerce programme, Scott Sellars, said: "These tax allowances give all SMEs the chance to develop opportunities throughout the Internet, allowing for further growth and development.

"They give the firms that need it most the extra help they may be looking for in developing new markets and reducing costs."

The team has already helped over 50 companies create their own websites, with many benefiting from an upturn in business.

Graham Newby, of Bradford consumer electronics firm Eastgate Industries, said: "Our customers asked us to provide facilities for placing orders outside of normal office hours.

"We approached the Chamber, who helped us get an e-commerce website through their European funded e-Bradford project. We have only been online for a few weeks, but the orders are already flooding in."

A survey by Electronics Yorkshire last year showed there were nearly 200 'new media' businesses in the Bradford District.

Project co-ordinator Roger Simcox said: "Many of these firms are small and young, and they're involved in everything from producing educational CD ROMs to designing web sites. If we can get them to work symbiotically together then we will have a good basis for creating a strong, thriving new sector in Bradford."