Businesspeople are increasingly seeking advice from their peers online, says MT Rainey, founder of mentoring website horsesmouth. On horsesmouth.co.uk users can ask for advice, offer support and publish their own stories in any area of life. But between July and September this year the site saw a 74 per cent rise in business-related inquiries.

Rainey says the increase has been particularly marked in the small-business sector. "People working in large corporates have quite large support networks and they are working with peers, and while SMEs have plenty of business information they have few opportunities to connect on a human one-to-one level," she explains.

"They don't have the same support network, so one of the ways in which horsesmouth has really picked up in the last year has been in, not only mentoring, but inquiries in business advice or support from people starting their own business or running an enterprise or small start-up."

There are now 18,000 mentors registered on the site, 8,000 of them in the business area, ranging from captains of industry and well-known entrepreneurs to young people who have been successful against the odds. Next year horsesmouth will hand out awards to the most inspirational mentors for the second year running.

Rainey says she set up the social enterprise because she wanted to give something back after a successful career.

"I have always had a mentor and I have been a mentor many times; I think it is a powerful thing to do," she says, adding that giving something back is a human instinct. "We are moderating and watching the content and it is fantastically inspiring to see. People who have had a triumph or a challenge tend to want to pass on their learning."