We're ready for the millennium - or are we?

Y2K thorn-in-the-side Taskforce 2000 has issued a scathing response to its Government-financed counterpart's claim that the UK is on top of the date change problem.

"We are genuinely shocked by the interpretation Action 2000 has put on these figures," said Taskforce 2000. "The statistics clearly do not support their conclusions. This PR spin is seriously misleading both British business and the British public."

What has T2000 up in arms is a report, released at the beginning of the week, stating that businesses are highly confident in their own preparations and in those of the UK's essential services.

Action 2000's latest research shows that 99% of FTSE 500 companies and 93% of companies employing 250+ staff have prepared for the millennium date change and can expect no material disruption due to the bug. The remaining 7% have still to complete reviews of their embedded systems.

The report also highlights big business confidence in the many smaller suppliers on which they rely. Of the FTSE 500 companies surveyed, all had undertaken significant supply chain work, with 66% having carried out site visits to their key suppliers. Of these companies, only 19% found problems that required remedial work. This has led the vast majority of big businesses (96%) to express a high degree of confidence and trust in their supply chain networks.

What this shows, says A2000, is that the previous weak link, potential failure through supply chain interdependency, is no longer a cause for concern.

But, asks T2000, where are the actual detailed figures? "Once again," they complain, "we are being expected to rely on subjective reassurance."

On another front, the European Commission has announced plans to open a monitoring office that will be up and running 24 hours a day from 31 December through 5 January to 'exchange information about national situations'.

Some bigger companies have taken this idea one stage further and established links with counterparts in countries where the date change arrives first in order to learn what their experiences have been.

Elliott Chase