Reputation agency gotjuice.co.uk has announced it is investing £250,000 in new online services to help tradespeople fight back against 'unfair and untrue reviews' posted online about their businesses.

The idea behind the company's investment is to help businesses remove and suppress negative comments from Google results pages, blogs, forums and reviews sites.

The company's site – www.gotjuice.co.uk - was launched in July following studies that showed over 85% of consumers are influenced by online reviews, with more than 70% of referrals accounting for online enquiries.

Mark Hall, managing director of Gotjuice, said: “Currently there is no recourse or protection for getting these false claims removed or suppressed. We work with trade companies to identify unfair and untrue comments and enable them to fight back and wipe the slate clean - offering them protection from ongoing negative actions.

“Online reviews and mentions can ruin businesses so they need to manage their online reputations. Unfair and untrue comments can literally cost UK trade millions of pounds each year.”

So far, the agency states it is already seeing growing interest from plumbers and electricians to protect their online reputations through implementing online customer care and reputation management programmes.

Over the next three years, the company plans to invest heavily, including launching a recruitment drive to support its planned expansion.