Jamie Murray Wells, 24, Old Harrovian friend of Prince William and Kate Middleton, sells glasses on the internet at one-tenth of the price they retail in the High Street.

So successful has his business become that he has attracted £3million ($6m) of venture capital funding. His next plan is to take on the lucrative American market

Jamie started out with only his student loan, and some help from his father, who is also an entrepreneur. Simon is an investment analyst, while his mother, Alison, buys up cottages for holiday renting and, for good measure, imports local products from Morocco. His maternal grandfather, Wendall Clough, helped bring Ford and Chrysler to Britain.

In the past few years, Jamie has gone head-to-head with High Street giants like Specsavers and Vision Express for dominance of Britain’s multi-billion-pound glasses market.

He says, “We currently sell 300 to 400 pairs a day. This injection of cash means we could be selling thousands.”

Enterprising he may be, cheeky he certainly is. He recently bombarded Newcastle city centre with men in sheep costumes implying the High Street was “fleecing” consumers. “I love the fact that this business is causing trouble,” he says. “At school I used to behave terribly. Even at university I’d do things like make the campus Christmas tree disappear, watch the uproar and then mysteriously return it.”

Glasses Direct was conceived while he was reading for his final exams at the University of the West of England in Bristol. He set up the website after he discovered the huge cost of spectacles on the High Street, although they cost as little as £7 to make.

He remarks, “I would walk out of the examination room and go straight to the library to use the computers for my business. What gives me kicks is bringing something new into the world. I’m not into starting up just another optician. I want a market-changing business.”

Jamie employs 30 staff in Wiltshire, England and is recruiting for a new London office. Turnover is predicted to rise to £10million by 2008.

It’s reported that few small business owners turn to the internet to find contacts or for networking.

Social networking sites, such as Facebook and LinkedIn, have little attraction for the business bosses.

New research from Barclays Local Business indicates that 60 percent prefer traditional network events when looking for support and advice. Only 8 percent consider going online to discuss their business.

John Davis, Business Marketing Director of the Barclays outfit, says, “Many small businesses are sole traders and organized events allow you to meet others and discuss issues face to face, something a chat room will never do.”

Small Business Booster wonders, though, whether putting effort into the business itself might not be a more productive exercise?

Reuters is reporting that around one million people in Britain are paying the wrong amount of tax because of errors in processing by HM Revenue and Customs. This may be especially true of small businesses who have a more complex tax structure than individuals.

The news comes in a report to Parliament, Accuracy in Processing Income Tax, from the National Audit Office, published today.

The NAO found that errors resulted in £125 million ($250m) too little being paid and £157 million ($314m) too much being paid during 2006/07.

The errors have a much wider impact, the NAO added, in taxpayers’ anxiety, wasted time and effort in trying to put matters right.

Some groups are likely to be disproportionately affected, including taxpayers with complicated tax affairs, such as freelancers and people with several sources of income.

The NAO recommended that the HMRC separates out more complex cases for processing, develops staff training and strengthens the help available for taxpayers affected by errors. “HMRC has improved its processing of income tax returns but there are substantial numbers of taxpayers who are affected by processing errors.”

The opposition Conservative Party said the amounts involved were “unacceptable”.

“With such a dismal track record, it beggars belief that the Revenue is asking for powers to deduct tax it claims is owed direct from bank accounts.”