BUSINESSMEN from across the world could be beating a path to a trade exhibition in Bury on Tuesday without even leaving the comfort of their offices.

For the Bury Council-backed Bury Business Network project is staging the boroughs first ever Virtual Trade Exhibition in a bid to show off the products of a handful of local businesses as well as breaking new ground.

The idea is the brainchild of project manager Brian Berry, a winner in the councils first Employee Achievement Awards, who has been working with small businesses across the borough. He has helped them develop their use of information through three innovative initiatives including the development of the Bury Business Network and Broadband for Micro Businesses.

These initiatives have been funded by the council, European Regional Development Fund and the North West Development Agency and have each been extremely successful and well supported by businesses in Bury.

The Business Network and the broadband project finish this year and Brian was keen to leave a usable legacy that gives businesses in Bury a vision of the opportunities that ICT can continue to deliver in future.

He said: "The use of real time 3D interaction over the web is now achievable and will be widely used in the next few years. I thought a virtual exhibition using this technology and involving real businesses in Bury would be the best way to demonstrate this vision".

Working with the Summerseat-based Tickle Group and Salford Universitys Centre of Virtual Environments, the result of Brian's work is Bury's first Virtual Reality Exhibition to be launched at the Bolholt Country Park Hotel at 3.30pm.

Those accessing the website will be able to understand the technology, take a virtual tour of Bury, register and enter the exhibition, and visit four Bury-based businesses exhibition stands showing off the products of local firms.