Internet business is strengthening. As MD at internet hosting provider, UKFast, I have the luxury of being able to observe the fortunes of thousands of businesses. Of the quarter of a million domain names on our network, not one is complaining about the recession.

On the high street decreases in spending are evident. You may well spot boarded up shops and buildings to let, which leads to concerns for the economic climate. However this is much more likely just to be due to the natural shift in consumer activity.

The offline to online shift has been taking place for a number of years. More people than ever before are shopping online – in 2007, e-shoppers spent £370m online in just 24 hours on the second Monday in December. And the total spend for the three months leading to Christmas was estimated a massive £17.6bn – up 82% on the same period for 2006.

Online spending is predicted to reach £162bn by 2020 and make up 40% of retail spending. This clearly shows a shift in consumer shopping habits.