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With the growing popularity of mobile applications, 123-reg, the UK’s largest domain registrar, has launched a new Android app that will allow users to search and purchase domain names on the go.

The way in which mobile phones are used has changed beyond all recognition in the last five years and has made the lives of many much simpler. Apps come in many forms; some are fun, others just pass time, but some, like 123-reg’s app, can be a very powerful business tool.

When buying domain names, time is of the essence and any delay can mean the difference between your domain being available and your domain being taken by someone else. Many modern internet businesses are formed and marketed around a catchy and relevant domain name. Without this, important tasks such as search engine optimisation and even placing an advert to catch the eye of the target audience can quickly become a lot more complicated than they need to be.

Thomas Vollrath, managing director of 123-reg, commented: “Inspiration can hit at any time and before now, anyone who thought of a domain name would have to wait until they got home or to the office before they could purchase that domain – a delay that can often hinder their chances of getting their perfect domain.”

The app also includes the ability to search and register domain names with whois privacy (where it applies), create a favourites list and get access to the 123-reg blog and special offers pages. However, this functionality will be extended further with an upgrade that will allow users to purchase further products, manage your DNS settings and enabling customers to manage their account. 123-reg is looking to release this upgrade within the upcoming months.

Available now, the app is free to download from the Android Market. New and existing customers of 123-reg are able to use this app, however, new users will need to create and store credit/debit card details within the application to make purchases. Up until the 30^th June, when users download the app they can also take advantage of an introductory offer where any .com domain can be purchased for just £6.99 with the first app order – a saving of £3. To download the 123-reg Android app, visit: http://www.123-reg.co.uk/domain-names/iphone-application/

For more information about 123-reg and its Android app, please visit www.123-reg.co.uk

About 123-reg

123-reg is the UK’s top domain registrar, registering every fifth .co.uk domain. It’s a market leader in domain name registration (2.6 million domains) and web hosting solutions. With extensive experience of the industry, the company is able to offer high quality, technically advanced yet cost-effective products to a wide range of customers. 123-reg UK was voted third most popular web host in July 2010 by Web Host Directory and ninth in its Best Ten Web Hosting awards (April 2010). www.123-reg.co.uk is part of the UK’s leading web hosting group and 2010 Sunday Times Deloitte Buyout Track 100 company, Webfusion. The group also consists of www.webfusion.co.uk, www.corporate.webfusion.co.uk. www.donhost.co.uk and www.supanames.co.uk, each making every step of setting up online as easy as 1, 2, 3.

Heart Internet, one of the UK’s leading providers of Reseller Web Hosting, has announced the launch of their competition for designers to create a brand new magazine advert to win £2,000 worth of prizes, and see their entry used in a national magazine.

Now in its 3rd year, the competition is open to all designers, Heart Internet customer or not, the winning entry will receive a 27” iMac, a 32GB iPod touch, free reseller hosting for a year plus a free domain name. On top of this the winner will also see their design used in one of the national IT magazines Heart Internet advertises in.

“Our reseller hosting is ideal for those in the digital creative industry including web designers and graphic artists. That means we have a very creative customer base, and this annual competition provides us with an opportunity to showcase their talents.” Said Heart Internet director Jonathan Brealey “It is also a great opportunity for any designer to see their work published at a national level.”

The competition is open to any designer, and closes 1st September. For more information and to enter visit the website http://www.heartinternet.co.uk/designcompetition/

About Heart Internet

Launched in 2004, Heart Internet has grown rapidly to become one of the UK’s leading web hosting and reseller hosting companies. Named the UK’s fastest growing Internet company of 2009 by Deloitte, Heart Internet’s core values are based around high-quality products at competitive prices. Heart Internet is currently the fifth largest UK host for TLD domains hosted (source: www.webhosting.info).

Contact details

For further information please contact Matthew Telfer
Email: matthew.telfer@heartinternet.co.uk
DDI: 0115 934 2171
Heart Internet Ltd, 2 Castle Quay, Castle Boulevard , Nottingham, NG7 1FW

The UK’s leading web hosting and domain registrar, 123-reg, has cut the waiting times its customers encounter by a staggering two-thirds, thanks to an investment in the infrastructure, systems and staff of its customer services division.

The investment includes the appointment of new employees such as customer service agents, a team of trainers including a dedicated in-house customer service trainer providing on-hand support, guidance and refresher sessions. In addition, the implementation of a bespoke Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system also allows agents to handle incoming calls much faster than ever before.

Internally, 123-reg has categorised its agents into two sections: online staff – those responsible for handling the brand’s ‘ticketing’ queries directly logged online and, call handlers – a team of telephone operatives who manage problems via the CRM system.

To effectively evaluate its services and ensure customer feedback is incorporated into its continually-evolving customer service strategy, 123-reg has also introduced a survey. Within the survey, customers are asked for their opinions on what the company does well and what changes they would like to see implemented, as well as feedback on their customer service experience.

Thomas Vollrath, managing director of 123-reg, comments: “As the UK’s largest domain registrar, registering every fifth .co.uk domain, we experience a large volume of calls from businesses and consumers who generally need support, want to make changes to their accounts or who are experiencing problems. As such, and like any public facing company, getting customer services right can be a lengthy learning process and we are extremely happy to see the impact that the investment in customer services has already made.

“Providing excellent customer service is of paramount importance to us, and as such this investment in improving standards is just the beginning; with our newly trained and appointed team and more intelligent CRM systems, coupled with the introduction of a customer feedback survey, we have the necessary infrastructure in place to continually monitor and improve our service.”

A series of improved user guides and frequently asked questions have also been added to the 123-reg site to support customers who want to troubleshoot minor problems themselves. To assist further, the company will also shortly be launching ‘live chat’, an instant messaging service which will allow customers to communicate directly with agents in real-time.

For further information regarding 123-reg and its range of services, please visit www.123-reg.co.uk.

About 123-reg

123-reg is the UK’s top domain registrar, registering every fifth .co.uk domain. It’s a market leader in domain name registration (2.6 million domains) and web hosting solutions. With extensive experience of the industry, the company is able to offer high quality, technically advanced yet cost-effective products to a wide range of customers. 123-reg UK was voted third most popular web host in July 2010 by Web Host Directory and ninth in its Best Ten Web Hosting awards (April 2010). www.123-reg.co.uk is part of the UK’s leading web hosting group and 2010 Sunday Times Deloitte Buyout Track 100 company, Webfusion. The group also consists of www.webfusion.co.uk, www.corporate.webfusion.co.uk. www.donhost.co.uk and www.supanames.co.uk, each making every step of setting up online as easy as 1, 2, 3.

123-reg, the UK’s biggest domain registrar, has today announced a re-launch of its current web hosting product, which means customers can now benefit from totally unlimited web space and traffic, unlimited databases and free domain names.

In addition, following customer feedback, 123-reg has also incorporated features including the ability to map domains, to increase ease of use. In a survey last year, it was revealed that domain mapping was an attribute that many customers felt would be a benefit to them and, an option that would set 123-reg apart from its competition. Domain mapping allows multiple domains to point to a single hosting account, which as well as increasing SEO (search engine optimisation) opportunities, is also useful when changing the domain name of an existing website.

Commenting on the upgraded packages, Thomas Vollrath, managing director of 123-reg, said: “We want to provide our customers with the best possible hosting packages available on the market. As part of the re-launch, and in response to client feedback, we have added multiple beneficial features including free apps like WordPress and Drupal and the ability to host several websites on a single package. We have also excluded confusing traffic limits and excess fees.

“This product is ideal for those customers who have registered a domain and are looking for a proven web hosting provider – they don’t need to have registered it through us to enjoy the benefits.”

Whether customers are creating their first website, looking for a home for their business site, are unhappy with their current web hosting provider or, starting to experiment with apps, then there are three straightforward options for them to choose from. Prices start from just £2.49 per month and the web hosting packages come with a 30-day money back guarantee. Visit www.123-reg.co.uk for more details.

About 123-Reg

123-reg is the UK’s top domain registrar, registering every fifth .co.uk domain. It’s a market leader in domain name registration (2.6 million domains) and web hosting solutions. With extensive experience of the industry, the company is able to offer high quality, technically advanced yet cost-effective products to a wide range of customers. 123-reg UK was voted third most popular web host in July 2010 by Web Host Directory and ninth in its Best Ten Web Hosting awards (April 2010). www.123-reg.co.uk is part of the UK’s leading web hosting group and 2010 Sunday Times Deloitte Buyout Track 100 company, Webfusion. The group also consists of www.webfusion.co.uk, www.corporate.webfusion.co.uk. www.donhost.co.uk and www.supanames.co.uk, each making every step of setting up online as easy as 1, 2, 3.

On the surface, the troubles in Libya and the sinking country of Tuvalu are two subjects not commonly associated with the instability of the UK’s online community. Thomas Vollrath MD of leading domain registrar, 123-reg, explores the impact international domain extensions are having on national businesses while advising on domain registration best practice.

Domain extensions historically belong to the country of reference, for example .tv to Tuvalu, .eg to Egypt and .ly to Libya.  The popularity of these domain extensions is encouraging businesses to purchase these domains without first considering the potential long term political implications.  For many the implications are small or non-existent, but in some circumstances the impact could be extremely detrimental to their business and brand.

Recently a number of .ly domains were deleted by the Libyan registry for perceived breaches of decency rules.  Vb.ly a URL shortening service was the most notable casualty, after it was reprimanded for the actions of an adult entertainment company which utilised its service.  It is therefore important to be aware that registries controlled by countries are subject to local laws and or even, the whims of local governments.

This is particularly relevant in places, like Libya, where there is currently civil unrest and as such potential changes in leadership which could impact its registry management.  In fact in February, in response to rising anti-Government protests in Libya, leaders began ‘cutting’ local people off from the internet which raised many concerns over whether businesses using the .ly suffix would be affected. Similarly when the Egyptian Government took action to stop Egyptians from using the internet at the start of 2011, the Government ordered ISPs to stop resolving all domains ending in .eg.

When considering Libya and Egypt then, the sinking South Pacific islands of Tuvalu could be a concern for people who have purchased the popular .tv extensions? Thankfully, the management of the registrations is outsourced by a reputable third party who also manages the registry for .com and .net.  In fact, a large number of domains with country-specific codes which are being used for more generic purposes are handled by bodies outside the country in question.

When it comes to the physical registration of a domain, businesses should choose a supplier they trust. 123-reg is the UK’s number one domain registrar and as an established brand within the sector we can not only offer our customers, in most instances, the best prices on domains, but a safe pair of hands and a promise that when they come to renew, their URL we will still be in operation.

That may sound like an odd reason to choose a registrar, but using less established businesses could make even the simplest of tasks, such as the renewal of a URL, a costly, risky and painful exercise.  One of the main advantages of using a reputable registrar such as ourselves is that we have many years of experience and can handle problems across the board from technical and payment complaints to ownership issues.  Companies such as ours will also operate in a far more streamlined manner, to the benefit of the customer. If the registrar is stable from a technical and business standpoint then there is little chance that they will have issues that cause a domain to be lost.

Before choosing a company to register with I would also recommend giving the terms and conditions a thorough read.  It may sound obvious, but hidden charges can be found within them. For example if a brand chooses to transfer its domain it can sometimes incur substantial costs or, in some cases, the company may find it is not listed as the domain owner, and that the registrar owns it, such that by transferring they are financially penalised.  It is critical to ensure that the basic services that they need for the domain such as DNS, are free, working effectively and don’t suffer from frequent problems.

Businesses should ensure they understand the renewal prices and terms too. It’s not uncommon for companies to charge late fees above and beyond those associated with the domain; some registries may even charge a redemption fee.

To conclude my advice is simple; be prepared and don’t rush the registration, use a reputable provider, always read the T&Cs, register at least two domains so you always have a back-up and investigate who manages the extension to negate any potential future issues.

About Host Europe Group

Founded in 1997, Host Europe Group is the largest privately owned hosting group in Europe. It offers its 800k+ customers domain registration, mass hosting, customised, managed and cloud hosting, and has an emerging software-as-a-service offering. As the biggest domain registrar in the UK, and largest virtualization provider in Europe, Host Europe Group is the ideal choice for consumers and businesses alike, who seek a high quality of service, with first rate performance at a competitive price. With its leading brands: 123-reg, Webfusion, Host Europe, dynamic-net AG, and Donhost, the Group has a strong market presence in the UK, US, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Spain.

As Prince Harry takes the throne as England’s most eligible bachelor following the marriage of William and Kate, a recent online quiz from the UK’s biggest domain registrar, 123-reg, has revealed that one in six of the respondents could be the young Prince’s perfect match.

123-reg’s survey, Can I Marry Harry, attracted over 2,000 participants from all across the UK to find out how compatible they are with William’s younger brother.

By answering 11 questions about topics and situations close to Harry’s heart, including partying, drinking, and sport, entrants were given a percentage compatibility rating determined by how well their answers matched the profile of Prince Harry.

The ratings were split into three categories:

• 0-40% – Oh well, keep looking, your Prince Charming might just be round the corner!
• 40-70% – Close but not quite ready to be Harry’s princess.
• 70-100% – Choose the designer for your dress, your Harry’s perfect lady.

The results are sure to send the Prince’s heart racing with 17 per cent of respondents scoring a compatibility match of 70 per cent or over.

Thomas Vollrath, managing director of 123-reg, explains: “The Royal wedding was one of the biggest events in this year’s social calendar but now it’s over, all eyes have turned to Prince Harry and when he will walk down the aisle himself, and who with. Can I Marry Harry was a light-hearted quiz where participants could discover their suitability as a partner to the Prince and new member of the Royal family; the results of which they could then post and boast to their friends on Facebook and Twitter and even purchase a relevant domain name pronouncing their compatibility.”

No doubt that Harry will be delighted with the results so move over Chelsy Davy, Harry has plenty of English roses to chose from. Let the competition begin.

About 123-Reg

123-reg is the UK’s top domain registrar, registering every fourth .co.uk domain. It leads the market in both domain name registration (2.6 million domains) and web hosting solutions. With extensive experience of the industry, the company is able to offer high quality, technically advanced yet cost-effective products to a wide range of customers. 123-reg UK was voted third most popular web host in July 2010 by Web Host Directory and ninth in its Best Ten Web Hosting awards (April 2010). www.123-reg.co.uk is part of the UK’s leading web hosting group and 2010 Sunday Times Deloitte Buyout Track 100 company, Webfusion. The group also consists of www.webfusion.co.uk, www.corporate.webfusion.co.uk. www.donhost.co.uk and www.supanames.co.uk, each making every step of setting up online as easy as 1, 2, 3.

Company: Heart Internet
Service: Shared Hosting

Judging Criteria:
• Hours of support
• Hardware redundancy of each level
• Firewall protection
• Security measures at data centre(s)
• Patch management process
• Guarantees for connecting servers to the Internet
• Number of IP addresses offered
• Flexibility: Can size of site change without penalty or being tied into a contract?
• Payment options
• Price and value for money
• Domain / DNS management available
• Data centre availability / SLAs

Bearing in mind the judges criteria, entrants are required to answer the following questions using no more than 200 words per section. Please include any evidence within the given word limit. The Awards judges may contact entrants to clarify statements made in the written entry forms.

The deadline for completion of this form is 1st April 2011. Forms submitted after this date will not be accepted. Please email the completed form to awards@ispa.org.uk

1. In what way does your shared hosting service provide value for money?

24x7x365 UK support
All shared hosting customers get access to our UK web hosting support team, 24x7x365. We don’t outsource any support and it is all 100% based in our Nottingham office.

Always improving
We are always looking for ways to help make our customers lives easier and keep our products up to date. Examples from 2010 include a major refresh of our web hosting control panel, adding concrete5 to our one click install scripts, launching the iPhone control panel, introducing Hosted Exchange and upgrading our free Serif software deal to the latest version.

Free services and features
On top of the generous technical specifications we include a wide range of extra features and services completely free. These include a huge selection of one click install CGI scripts such as WordPress, Joomla & Drupal as well as web building software Serif WebPlus X4 (worth £79) and our exclusive iPhone web hosting control panel.

High quality servers
We only buy the latest and best servers. All our shared hosting customers websites are housed in Dell branded servers powered by the latest intel technology.

2. In what ways do you ensure the privacy and security of your customers’ data?

Technology & platform
We only use Dell servers in our web hosting platform. Our platform is designed to be highly redundant, all data is stored in network disk arrays. Data is automatically synchronised between the arrays so that in the event of an array failing the remaining array continues to serve data to the servers with no downtime.

Each array is also backed up each night to a separate backup cluster which is then written to tape and stored offsite.

Data centre
We utilise uninterruptable power supplies and an n+1 generator setup to ensure constant and clean energy to our infrastructure. The data centre is protected by fire suppression, monitored by CCTV both externally and internally, has 24x7x365 onsite security and the building is surrounded by an 8ft perimeter fence.

Security
We are automatically informed of new security patches via our vendor. Patches are applied within 24 hours. Our own platform is scanned each month for application vulnerabilities and we use a network scanner to identify weaknesses in our network. Heart Internet are PCI compliant.

3. Describe how your services offer choice, flexibility & innovation to customers

We cover all levels of experience and technical requirements through our shared hosting packages:

• Starter Pro is ideal for someone looking to build their first website or run a small website

• Home Pro is for more advanced users with features such as MySQL databases and Ecommerce

• Business Pro is for hosting customers who don’t want any limits placed on their website with unlimited web space, bandwidth, databases and Emails

• Reseller Pro: Built for web designers, IT professionals, & people who want to set up their own web hosting company. Every element can be 100% re-branded.

We accept payment via either credit card or debit card and provide a clear and easy to follow upgrade path for customers who want to move up a package.

Our customers have full domain and DNS management available through their control panel. Customers can also manage their websites and hosting accounts on the move with our exclusive iPhone control panel which has all the same functionality of the standard control panel. This is free for all Heart Internet customers.

4. What other features distinguish your service from that of your competitors?

customers ideas put in to action
Our customers have a real impact on our business and products with over 2,000 customer ideas and suggestions implemented to date. Using the feedback form within their control panel we receive hundreds every week and we read every single one of them and act on many of them.

No outsourcing
All our teams (support, development, system administration etc.) are direct employees based in our Nottingham office. We have no contractors and we don’t outsource any of our business abroad.

Customer engagement
We proactively engage with our customers through Twitter (www.twitter.com/heartinternet), Facebook (www.facebook.com/heartinternet) and our web hosting blog (www.heartinternet.co.uk/blog) initiating conversations and responding to questions.

About Heart Internet

Launched in 2004, Heart Internet has grown rapidly to become one of the UK’s leading web hosting and reseller hosting companies. Named the UK’s fastest growing Internet company of 2009 by Deloitte, Heart Internet’s core values are based around high-quality products at competitive prices. Heart Internet is currently the fifth largest UK host for TLD domains hosted (source: www.webhosting.info).

Contact details

For further information please contact Matthew Telfer
Email: matthew.telfer@heartinternet.co.uk
DDI: 0115 934 2171
Heart Internet Ltd, 2 Castle Quay, Castle Boulevard , Nottingham, NG7 1FW

During the month of May, 123-reg, the UK’s number one domain registrar, is offering its customers the chance to purchase two .org domains for the price of one at just £9.99.

Customers have until Tuesday 31^st May to purchase their two .org domain extensions, for just under £5 each, by simply visiting www.123-reg.co.uk and clicking on the May promotion.

Commenting on the deal, Thomas Vollrath managing director of 123-reg, said: “Across the UK’s retail stores and e-commerce sites the spring sales have well and truly started and at 123-reg we wanted to ensure our customers could enjoy a selection of savings too.

“The .org domain extension is known as a generic top-level domain and is extremely versatile. It can be used for social enterprise, community activities and even business.”

Additionally, 123-reg is also offering deals on emails from just 99p per address per month and three months free on InstantSite Pro.

About 123-Reg

123-reg is the UK’s top domain registrar, registering every fifth .co.uk domain. It’s a market leader in domain name registration (2.6 million domains) and web hosting solutions. With extensive experience of the industry, the company is able to offer high quality, technically advanced yet cost-effective products to a wide range of customers. 123-reg UK was voted third most popular web host in July 2010 by Web Host Directory and ninth in its Best Ten Web Hosting awards (April 2010). www.123-reg.co.uk is part of the UK’s leading web hosting group and 2010 Sunday Times Deloitte Buyout Track 100 company, Webfusion. The group also consists of www.webfusion.co.uk, www.corporate.webfusion.co.uk. www.donhost.co.uk and www.supanames.co.uk, each making every step of setting up online as easy as 1, 2, 3.

UK based web hosting company Heart Internet has announced a major revamp of their web hosting accounts, at no extra cost to their customers. Previously capped at 20GB of space, 100 MySQL databases and 60GB of bandwidth usage per month, their Home Pro web hosting account has now been upgraded to include unlimited web space, unlimited bandwidth and unlimited MySQL databases. Additionally, users of their Business Pro web hosting account can now host multiple websites all on the same package.

“Our new unlimited and multi-site hosting features offer our customers even more power, flexibility and control over their web hosting” Heart Internet co-founder Jonathan Brealey said in a statement “These upgrades will allow them to develop their website to their full potential without worrying about hitting any limits.”

As well as upgrading their web hosting, the company has recently added a brand new range of one click install web apps to their web hosting, including the popular OpenCart, PrestaShop, Simple Invoices and Vanilla Forums. With over 66 web apps to choose from, Heart Internet now offers one of the largest collections of one click install scripts in the UK.

These changes come during a busy period for the company which has also recently announced the upgrade of their Hosted Exchange platform to include 10GB mail boxes as well as the launch of a new line of dedicated servers.

About Heart Internet

Launched in 2004, Heart Internet has grown rapidly to become one of the UK’s leading web hosting and reseller hosting companies. Named the UK’s fastest growing Internet company of 2009 by Deloitte, Heart Internet’s core values are based around high-quality products at competitive prices. Heart Internet is currently the fifth largest UK host for TLD domains hosted (source: www.webhosting.info).

Contact details

For further information please contact Matthew Telfer
Email: matthew.telfer@heartinternet.co.uk
DDI: 0115 934 2171
Heart Internet Ltd, 2 Castle Quay, Castle Boulevard , Nottingham, NG7 1FW

Can’t have the heir then why not have the spare?

In the month the nation gets set to celebrate the Royal nuptials of Prince William to Catherine Middleton, 123-reg the UK’s biggest domain registrar, launches a fun compatibility survey www.canimarryharry.com where participants can learn how well matched they are with Prince Harry.

There are 11 questions in the survey which test how participants behave in certain situations relating to Prince Harry, including how to handle a flirty situation with the third in-line for the throne, what wedding gift you would choose for Kate and Wills and what would be your tipple of preference.

The results of each question are scored depending on how well the respondents’ answers match with the profile of Prince Harry.  At the end of the survey, participants are then given a percentage compatibility score – illustrating how suitable they are.  They can then share their results and an image through Facebook and Twitter and even choose a wedding-themed domain name from 123-reg.

Thomas Vollrath, CEO of 123-reg, explains: “The marriage of Prince William to Kate Middleton is shaping up to be the biggest event in this year’s social calendar, with people across the country planning street parties and events to celebrate the big day.  At 123-reg we wanted to mark the affair in our own special way and so have focused on William’s headline-grabbing, younger brother – in a search to help him find his own Miss Right.

“Those who want to take the survey can access it directly via www.canimarryharry.com or visit our Facebook fan page facebook.com/123regfans and enter by clicking on the survey app.”

Why not follow the campaign on Twitter @canimarryharry.

About 123-Reg

123-reg is the UK’s top domain registrar, registering every fourth .co.uk domain. It leads the market in both domain name registration (2.6 million domains) and web hosting solutions. With extensive experience of the industry, the company is able to offer high quality, technically advanced yet cost-effective products to a wide range of customers. 123-reg UK was voted third most popular web host in July 2010 by Web Host Directory and ninth in its Best Ten Web Hosting awards (April 2010). www.123-reg.co.uk is part of the UK’s leading web hosting group and 2010 Sunday Times Deloitte Buyout Track 100 company, Webfusion. The group also consists of www.webfusion.co.uk, www.corporate.webfusion.co.uk. www.donhost.co.uk and www.supanames.co.uk, each making every step of setting up online as easy as 1, 2, 3.

About Webfusion

Webfusion Ltd is one of the UK’s leading web hosting groups with 1.4 million hosted websites and 2.5 million registered domains.

Webfusion offers cost-effective, feature-rich hosting packages for a diverse customer base – from web developers, designers and hobbyists to businesses with complex e-commerce operations.  Webfusion’s customers benefit from market-leading security and service including 24/7 technical support, robust Firewall server protection, one click installation, access to FTP accounts and a state-of-the-art data centre.

The Webfusion group also comprises www.123-reg.co.uk, www.donhost.co.uk and www.supanames.co.uk. For further information, visit www.corporate.webfusion.co.uk.