Britain's new e-envoy, Alex Allan, has been out and about giving support to e-ntrepreneurs in the North of England. He managed to cram in a photo shoot with Great Britain rugby league captain Andy Farrell yesterday, and a visit to Manchester's own 'Silicon Valley' before heading for a schmooze with other new media types. Apparently, Allan even took part in a live Web cast. He slapped Northern e-ntrepreneurs on the back for the way they were developing their e-businesses but warned that firms in the North still "lag behind other parts of the country in their take-up of e-commerce". In an upbeat announcement he said: "The Government is committed to backing business in the North by providing the right framework and nurturing the skills for e-commerce to flourish. "The region is already showing it has the creative spirit for e-commerce to thrive. We want the surge to continue and for all local business to realise the huge potential technology like the Internet offers for business," Allan said. ®