For all enquiries relating to Birmingham City Council's e-procurement programme, please contact:

Birmingham City Council
0121 303 1111
contact@birmingham.gov.uk


For other enquiries regarding getting registered please call our eProcurement helpdesk quoting 'the @Birmingham website' :

eProcurement Helpdesk
@UK PLC
Tel: 0118 963 7000
Email:


FAQs
Creating your web site
Your unique URL
Making changes to your web site
Selling products
Buying products
Safety/Reliability
Domain names

	Creating your web site
	How much does it cost? There is no charge for your home page or your first product page. You can add your entire product catalogue - there are a number of tariffs to suit your needs. Please click here to view latest prices.
	How do I begin? Simply click on 'create your web site' from the main menu and follow the instructions. The process should take under fifteen minutes.
	What can I put on my web site? The web site should contain a description of your company, contact details for your company, and information about your products or services. If you wish, you can also receive orders for your products online.
	How will people find my web site? Creating your web site using this service puts you instantly into the databases of several 'portals'. Anybody who searches through these portals / marketplaces for your products or services can find your web site.
	Your unique URL
	What is my unique URL? Your website has a unique URL of the following form. http://websites.uk-plc.net/your_company_name Please note that any spaces in your company name are replaced with an underscore, and any punctuation is removed. A link to your website can also be found at http://websites.uk-plc.net
	Making changes to your web site
	How do I make changes? Click on 'edit your web site' and after that enter your unique username and password. You'll then be able to click on what you want to change and make any alterations you like.
	Will changes to my web site happen straight away? Changes will appear within five to ten minutes.
	What's the difference between a product and a product item? An example of a product is a jumper, an example of a product item is a red jumper.
	Help! I've just deleted a product and many product items. What should I do? You'll have to put them back in again just as you did the first time.
	Selling products
	Can potential customers actually pay online for what they order from my web site? You can offer your customers fast, secure and reliable shopping 24 hours a day, 365 days a year via ePDQ. To accept any Visa, MasterCard, Switch or JCB card from anywhere in the world, you need your web site running on a secure server like this one and a Merchant Agreement with Barclays Merchant Services. For further information, contact support@ukplc.net or go to the ePDQ web site (www.epdq.co.uk).
	Buying products
	What happens to information I give to you? All sensitive information is stored safely on secure systems to which only carefully-selected personnel have access. It is practically impossible for anyone else to get hold of your data, which is scrambled so that only your computer and ours can make sense of it.
	What do I do if my order doesn't turn up? You should contact your supplier, whose details appear on your receipt along with your order number.
	Safety/Reliability
	How do I know that no-one can tamper with my company details? Our business directory contains basic information on over two million companies, and new ones are being added (registered) all the time. When you register your company with us, you identify yourself as its primary contact by means of your username and password. These are unique to you. You can nominate others to act on your behalf, each with their own unique username and password. When next someone wants to add, amend or delete anything about your registered company, they must supply their valid username and password. If they can't, they won't be allowed to change existing information. Of the two million companies already in our directory, many are registered (i.e. details have been added by a person authorised by the company to do so) but some are not. We check that anyone editing an unregistered company's information is entitled to do so.
	What happens if my credit-card details get into the wrong hands and somebody starts ordering things I don't want? If someone who isn't known to us as an authorised purchaser attempts to order goods on your company's behalf, we don't allow the transaction. We alert you to the details of the attempt by e-mail, and offer you the chance to register this person as an approved purchaser for next time.
	Domain names
	What do I get for my money? You get the exclusive rights to your chosen domain name for two years along with mail forwarding and linking with your @Health web site or another site of your choice.
	How does it work? Your website will have a unique URL and/or IP address. We will setup your domain name to point at your @Health website or another site of your choice.
	Does it include e-mail facilities? email forwarding facilities only - this means that emails sent to your domain name can be redirected to an email account or mailserver of your choice.