On Thursday 14th May almost half a million businesses were expected to participate in Virtual Meeting Day and showed how the British economy could save billions of pounds.

The day, organised by Work Wise UK as a part of Work Wise Week, was expected to have around ten per cent of businesses taking part. They were replacing traditional face-to-face meetings with audio, video or web conferencing, avoiding travel and subsistence costs and the waste of employees' valuable time.

Increasingly the demands of business necessitate saving money yet increasing efficiency and maintaining quality and this is when making greater use of virtual meetings can play a major role.

In the case of BT, a founder strategic partner of the Work Wise campaign, statistics indicate that the use of phone, web and video conferencing saves 300,000 face to face meetings per year.  This had led to a reduction in carbon footprint of 60% in the last ten years (1996-2006) largely as a result of lower property use and travel, quite aside from the money saved in fares, expenses and motor vehicles.

Sarah Stewart, project director of Work Wise North East, said: "In these straitened times, holding virtual meetings represents a great opportunity to cut costs and boost productivity. If every business aimed for just ten additional virtual meetings a year, they could save a staggering £14 billion collectively.