Flood of facts on the Severn site

TOMORROW sees half-year figures from Severn Trent, a water company with a website with attitude. At www.severn-trent.com you are guided by a site map that leaks wastefully out of eight dripping taps to an index so comprehensive that it seems nearly as weighty as War and Peace. All human life is here; from Biffa Waste Services to Rosie Raindrop, the puppet, and from the second-highest tidal wave in the world, the Severn Bore, to the Corporate Strategy.

Happily, it would seem that these last two are not in any way connected.

NEXT Wednesday we have still more water, flowing steadily in China, the Czech Republic, New Zealand, the US et al to contribute to the half-year performance of Anglian Water. The site at www.anglianwater.co.uk is very different from its rival. It lacks any information overload, requires more patience and occasionally is a touch misleading.

A news release with the headline, Anglia Water top of leakage charts, seems disastrous. But Ofwat says that it leaked less, not more, than its competitors. Communications as clear as mud.

HALF-YEAR figures from East Sussex cider maker Merrydown last week will have cheered with its welcome return to profitability.

Now comes added sparkle with the news that its site at www.merrydown.co.uk is officially launched today. It is a lively place to be, even if only to watch the apples tumble and the bubbles rise as the stereo sound effects fill the room.

Dig a bit deeper and you will find all about the preparation of its vintage cider and shloer fruit juices, as well the company's history. You will also see that, to be a board member, you apparently need to wear a blue shirt.

AS THE euro continues its seemingly inexorable slide to parity with the dollar, the European Central Bank appears unlikely to intervene and the Germans are becoming increasingly nervous. If you need to know why, try www.euro-emu.co.uk which justifiably claims to offer a broad-based, non-partisan view on the affair. Up-to-date news, archives and the outpourings of the ECB are all available. Also accessible is information from the European Commission, which sponsors the site, the Bank of England and various think tanks. Fuel for sceptics and supporters alike.

DO YOU know of a business-related website that is topical, informative, amusing or just downright awful?

Reveal all by email to jdbiznetjd@hotmail.com

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