An expert has said it is absolutely right to encourage further investment in the British technology sector and bolster small businesses in IT as it will lead to a wider economic recovery.

With the announcement that Google, Intel and IBM will be releasing statistics relating to their profits over the last quarter, the issue of major IT spending has garnered a response from Carrie Hartnell, the head of industry strategy at Intellect.

She said that her company feels that "investment in technology for companies [is important], but also encouraging more technology companies to locate here and to develop their research and development" can also contribute to economic recovery.

Ms Hartnell said this is because it will ensure more jobs, over everything else.

However, it is a competitive market and one which highlights that the UK is not the only economy which needs money for these industries, she added, meaning UK businesses and the government need to promote the nation over the likes of India, China and South Africa.

More than half of small businesses (53 per cent) believe that the most important benefit of outsourcing is guaranteed response times for IT support. London-based Connect conducted the research in 2007.