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Press release

Online trading presence in half an hour for UK companies

SMEs with no existing Web presence can now start trading online, from set-up to shopping trolley in 30 minutes.

Demon (the Internet brand of Thus) has developed a step-by-step wizard to construct transactional Web sites without the worry of domain name registration or ongoing hosting fees. There is no fee for hosting or to set up the ‘shop’, and if the customer decides to accept credit and debit cards, there is a nominal annual charge of £125.

Demon PowerTrader allows the customer to choose from over 70 professionally designed templates, enter product information, pricing, shipping and tax details.

Customers will be able to submit their site to multiple search engines. The customer's site will be listed in an easy to navigate online mall, which is accessible to shoppers. Customers can choose which currency to trade in; charge VAT in the relevant European countries and set up multiple shipping options.

Shoppers will be able to search for products on an individual site on a business category, or across the whole mall; for example, they could search for ski equipment by clicking on the sports goods icon, or visit the shop and click on the relevant category. Shoppers will also be able to view orders and shipping status via an order status page.

"This latest addition to our e-commerce portfolio is a breakthrough for start-ups and SMEs wanting to make the leap to e-commerce and online trading," said Cynthia Gordon, marketing director at Thus. "Businesses need to be able to concentrate on the actual strategy upholding the site - rather than the technical detail behind it. We are offering a step-by-step process to full transactional e-commerce, without the need for in-depth technical knowledge."

If a customer wants to accept debit or credit cards through their Web site, they can apply for an Internet Trading ID via the Thus multi-currency payment solutions partner - WorldPay. This can easily be done from within Demon PowerTrader and an ID can be obtained within 48 hours. WorldPay charge an annual fee of £125 to process online payments swiftly and securely.

October 23 2000

For further press information or photography, please contact: Louise Metcalfe or Jonathan Dinkeldein at LEWIS, the IT PR agency.

Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7802 2626
Email: louisem@lewispr.com

Fax: + 44 (0) 20 7802 2627
Email: jonathand@lewispr.com

For sales enquiries, please contact Thus:

Tel: +44 (0) 800 027 2828
Email: sales@let-it-be-thus.com

Fax: + 44 (0) 141 566 3065
http://www.let-it-be-thus.com

Notes to editors

About Thus:
Thus plc is one of the UK's leading providers of voice, data, Internet and interactive services, operating principally under the Thus and Demon brands.

Services:
Thus offers a variety of Internet services, mainly under the Demon brand in the UK and in the Netherlands. Demon is one of the UK's leading Internet Service Providers (ISPs), serving both the residential and business markets. Demon offers subscription dial up services and business access services, including Web hosting, Web design, leased line and e-commerce facilities, together with wholesale Internet services and non-subscription Internet access.

Demon has already established itself as the UK's largest Web hosting company and one of the largest in the world as reflected in the March 2000 Netcraft survey results. Demon was recently rated as one of the top three world-wide ISPs, by Internet Magazine and recent research by Blauw Research has found Demon NL to be the best valued provider in the Netherlands.

In July, Demon topped a J.D. Power and Associates UK Internet Service provider customer satisfaction study, gaining special recognition from customers for speed of access, customer service and e-mail services. In addition, Demon was found to be the most popular ISP amongst medium-sized businesses and the fourth most popular ISP amongst small-sized businesses in the Oftel SME survey (June 2000). Most recently, Demon has become the UK's number 1 audio/video-streaming site, through the popularity of the Big Brother Web site, with most users using Demon to access the live netcast.

Thus offers a wide range of data and telecommunication services, primarily to the UK business market, including direct and indirect switched, freephone, premium rate and other number translation services. The company provides non-switched products including capacity, leased line and managed data services.

Thus is also a leading provider in the call centre services market delivering telemarketing, call centre integration, fulfilment, consulting and disaster recovery services on a fully outsourced basis.

Thus services are available individually or on a fully integrated basis to support individual customer requirements.

Network:
Thus' National Network is fast becoming one of the most technologically advanced networks in the UK, providing the flexibility to deploy services supported by different switching protocols such as ATM, IP and MPLS. The company is currently extending the National Network to over 8,100km.