Dealers could be wasting thousands of pounds every year by leaving their PCs running - so dealer management systems provider Pinewood is backing a campaign to get them to switch their computers off.

The initiative, called Switch IT Off, has been launched by PC Pro magazine. It is inspired by research showing that a desktop PC that is never switched off draws up to an additional £175 in electricity every year over one that is turned off overnight and at other times when it is not being used.

Now, Pinewood will be encouraging dealers to take notice of the problem by including it as an action point in the six-monthly audits that it undertakes with all its customers.