A British e-entrepreneur has lashed out at trendy new age businesses which prefer to invest in Feng Shui to make money, instead of adopting ebusiness practices.

According to Andrew Wicking, MD of Surrey-based Intronets, he regularly encounters resistance from people who cannot see how the Net can open up new markets or cut costs for them, yet will happily pay Feng Shui consultants to "energise their offices" or tap into "ancestral wisdom".

"However, many companies that we speak to would rather get a Feng Shui consultant in at around £100 per hour to tell them to get a goldfish, move their desks round and dangle some crystals from the ceiling.

"Call me old-fashioned, but this is not going to open up foreign markets or cut your costs, it's just mumbo jumbo which is diverting many people's attention from real business issues," he said.

Wicking is so incensed by this apparent lack of understanding he has hit back at the corporate new agers and set up a site dedicated to demystifying Feng Shui.

However, having witnessed the recent security cock-ups at PowerGen and Barclays Bank, perhaps these companies should employ this ancient art to try and improve their karma. It's clear something ain't working right. ®