New website for Lincs Van Hire

POP has started working with Lincs Van Hire to design and build their new website, which we will also be integrating with their new back-office systems in a significant modernisation process for the firm.

Lincs Van Hire has been operating in the county for the last 15 years, providing a wide range of vehicles from cars, vans and tippers, to specialist vehicles, such as chiller vans, on short-term hire and longer-term arrangements.

We will design and create a bespoke WordPress website with a custom integration into the new management systems.

If you want to discuss how your website could be working harder for your business, or want to talk about technical auditing, maintenance or design services, either drop us a line or contact us via the form!

New Camloc multisite

Demonstrating our in-house technical capabilities, we have successfully planned, designed and delivered the new international multi-site network for the industrial springs, struts and dampers manufacturer, Camloc.

The new website is a WordPress multi-site, meaning that each of the nine global territories is an entity of its own. That means they can be structured and populated uniquely to suit the marketplace; however, they are all managed through one CMS control panel, making it highly efficient.

Previously the company’s website was built using a page builder which was very limiting, so we replaced it with a bespoke site and WordPress theme build.

The new website contains a remodeled and improved Help Centre, a library of downloadable product drawing files and has structured around detailed SEO research.

Visit the new website

New websites for Taylor Lindsey

Regional commercial and residential property developer Taylor Lindsey has chosen POP to redesign and redevelop their websites.

The Lincoln-based firm has been in the area since 1945 and has created some of the region’s most prominent commercial spaces, such as Teal Park, Roman Gate and Brunel Park, attracting world-class brands like Starbucks and Siemens.

The Lincoln-based firm has been in the area since 1945

Taylor Lindsey currently has three websites. We will be working to assess and create a new architecture for the company’s online presence that streamlines and makes this more efficient for managing content and creating a much higher quality expression of the brand.

POP’s on the move to Think Tank

We’re busy preparing to move to our new home in the Think Tank at the beginning of July 2022. Marks Barfield Architects, creators of the London Eye, designed The Think Tank, which opened in 2008. The building has various eco-friendly features, including larch panel shading on the windows for temperature control and ground source heat pumps.

Our contact details will remain the same, and you can get in touch with us as you usually do throughout the move.

Photo by and courtesy of the boys in the egg box: electricegg.co.uk

POP becomes Shopify Partner

Having worked with and created Shopify websites for a few years now, POP has become a Shopify Partner.

As Shopify state themselves:

“Shopify is the leading all-in-one commerce platform for startups to high-growth businesses. Powering millions of businesses worldwide, Shopify gives independent brands the tools to sell online, in person, and everywhere in between. Whether it’s an online store designed for mobile, or a point of sale that syncs with retail, Shopify is where businesses start, scale, and never outgrow.”

…we can demonstrate our existing knowledge of Shopify custom theme and store building, coding in Liquid and integrating with the vast array of Apps and services.

Joining the Shopify Partner scheme will allow us to begin the assessment process to gain Shopify Expert status, where we can demonstrate our existing knowledge of Shopify custom theme and store building, coding in Liquid and integrating with the vast array of Apps and services.

Drop us a line if you would like to discuss creating a Shopify store or are looking for support or expansion of an existing store.

New website and venue for Bar Unico

Bar Unico in Lincoln, run by mother and son Gio and Diane serves delicious, authentic Italian food, using fresh local produce and traditional Italian recipes that have been passed down through three generations.

Recently Bar Unico has expanded with a new venue in Horncastle and a gelato bike that was created in Sicily, so you can hire it for your weddings and parties and have beautiful Italian gelato, straight from the beautiful shores of Lake Como.

You can learn more about Bar Unico on their brand new website, as well as hiring the venues or the gelato bike for your event.

POP wins Mitie GSO website

Facilities management and professional services giant Mitie have awarded the contract to develop its new Global Security Operations website to POP.

We will be working alongside Mitie internal teams to plan, map, design and develop the new website which will incorporate the company’s sophisticated security intelligence, consultancy and technology offerings, including its industry-leading Merlin software.

“Winning such a significant project in the height of the pandemic-related downturn is a massive boost and is testament to us continuing to deliver day-in-day-out to our clients since before lockdown.” — Nick Whyatt, MD

Mitie is the UK’s largest intelligence-led security operation with over 22,000 security officers employed, and 35,000 security systems maintained, clients include The Bank of England, Eurostar, IKEA and the Co-op.

Concerning the current Covid-19 pandemic, Mitie has developed pioneering products and services to help people and businesses return to work and public spaces. These include a range of thermal imaging technologies to detect people with elevated temperatures and a cleaning product, Citrox Protect, which is proven to combat Coronaviruses on surfaces for six months and is chemical-free, non-toxic and produced from all-natural materials.

Learn more about our website design and development services

Photo by Robert Bye on Unsplash

COVID-19 response statement

As the situation surrounding the spread of C-19 (Coronavirus) is changing rapidly, we want to make sure we are supporting our staff, clients’ and suppliers’ health and wellbeing first and foremost.

We will also now be conducting all meetings remotely where possible or rescheduling them if this is not practical or if time allows.

We are a primarily digital business and can move to home-based working with minimal disruption until the advice about self-isolation and being in larger groups of people changes. We believe this is the most responsible course of action for us based on current advice.

We will also now be conducting all meetings remotely where possible or rescheduling them if this is not practical or if time allows.

If you have a mobile number already for the person you wish to contact, please use this as the primary number to speak to someone. You can also contact us via the usual means; email, Slack, Skype or Google Hangout.

The business continuity plan for our hosting services is ISO 22301 Business Continuity accredited and will ensure they remain uninterrupted. It includes isolation for staff that have roles that dictate on-site working (such as data centre engineers) and built-in redundancy; this negates the risk of transfer from offices to data centres or vice versa.

As always, if you have any concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

We wish you good health and a swift return to business as usual.

Nick Whyatt
MD, POP

Photo by Alex Holyoake on Unsplash

POP wins Mitie PLC projects

POP has secured another blue-chip client already in 2020, Mitie PLC. The work includes planning, website design and development.

Headquartered in The Shard, Mitie employs around 50,000 people.

Headquartered in The Shard, Mitie is the UK’s leading facilities management and professional services company, employing around 50,000 people and serving clients such as the Bank Of England, Sky, Facebook and Eurostar. Services delivered range from security and healthcare to document management, assurance and risk management.

POP is now in its 12th year of business and has worked with clients of all sizes and sectors, from start-ups to some of the country’s most recognisable brands.

Photo by Valentin B. Kremer on Unsplash

POP wins Armstrong Account

POP has been successful in winning the Armstrong Ceiling Solutions pan-European digital marketing account.

The EMEA and Pacific Rim business has recently been acquired by Knauf in $330m sale, as Armstrong World Industries pursues an Americas-only strategy.

POP will be working alongside Armstrong to deliver digital marketing reporting tools as well as the creation and ongoing management of the company’s organic and paid digital marketing strategy and activity.

Armstrong has a 150-year history that has seen it grow into Europe’s leading manufacturer of mineral fibre ceiling systems; designing and making products specified in all environments from schools and workplaces to hotels and hospitals.

POP rebrands Orvec International

POP has been commissioned by Orvec International to work alongside the company to develop its new identity and produce websites for both Orvec and its medical sister brand Orvecare.

Orvec is a market leader in the design, supply and manufacture of woven and non-woven products to the airline, healthcare and hospitality sectors across the world and has manufacturing locations in the UK & China and distribution bases in Europe, the US, the Middle East and Asia.

The company’s products are supplied worldwide to clients such a TUI, Virgin Atlantic, Delta, United Airlines and Emirates.

New Magento 2 store for Northcore

POP are currently redeveloping the e-commerce website for long-standing client and col-water surfing brand, Northcore Europe. The new website is a multi-storefront, multi-currency Adobe Magento 2 project and will be used for both retail and trade customers in the UK, mainland Europe and the US.

Adobe Magento 2 is the perfect fit for a large, highly-functional e-commerce website such as this

The website will integrate with Northcore’s stock management systems as well as third-party resellers such as Amazon and eBay. Adobe Magento 2 is the perfect fit for a large, highly-functional e-commerce website such as this and is the latest in a wave(!) of new Magento projects POP has been commissioned for as the end of support for Magento 1 in June 2020 draws closer.

Northcore Europe produces technical accessories and hardware for the surf, board riding and adventure sports communities, as well as working with the best athletes and engaging with progressive film making, music, art and photography. The brand has a team of pro surfers and has recently added world champion Twiggy Baker (pictured) to their ranks.

Check out Northcore’s existing website and learn more about our work with them here.

POP working with Wrendale Designs

POP has been commissioned to design and build the new international e-commerce website for Wrendale Designs, the company founded by artist Hannah Dale. Founded in 2012, Wrendale Designs has enjoyed meteoric growth, created a range by Royal Worcester and has most recently won a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade.

The website will be created using Adobe Magento 2 and will be integrated with Wrendale Design’s custom stock management system

The project to create the new Wrendale Designs website includes the creation of 6 different storefronts: retail and trade storefronts for 3 separate international regions and is both multi-currency and multi-lingual. The website will be created using Adobe Magento 2 and will be integrated with Wrendale Design’s custom stock management system, itself managing multiple stock locations in Europe and the US.

POP will also be helping to rationalise and recategorise the product range that runs to approximately 5,000 SKUs to create the most user-friendly way of navigating such a large range and give a great user experience to retail customers buying small numbers of items, trade customers buying and bulk and for the content management team themselves.

Eco friendly web hosting - For The World

100% carbon neutral web hosting

Though we’re a small business, we still have a responsibility to reduce our environmental impact where possible. One area we can do this is by migrating to a more eco-friendly web hosting set-up, so we are now using 100% carbon neutral data centres to host our websites and email for both ourselves and our clients.

Data centres worldwide are expected to generate 533 million tonnes of CO² by 2020

At first glance, this might seem a small change, however, according to the Carbon Trust, data centres worldwide are expected to generate 533 million tonnes of CO² by 2020, that’s roughly the equivalent of airline industry! So their impact is huge. You can rest assured though, if you host with POP, you won’t be contributing to this figure.

Learn more about what we do and who we do it for

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Adobe Magento v.1 end of life June 2020

If you have an e-commerce site that uses Adobe Magento v.1, or you know someone that does, the time has come to plan for the move to Magento v.2.

Magento v.1 will receive only security patches (no quality updates) until June 2020 and then support will end. Most Magento sites are large, complex, highly-functional stores – such as our friends at Northcore Europe, so starting to implement a changeover strategy now will ensure the move can be made in a planned, structured way that maximises business continuity.

It should also be noted that there are non-PCI DSS compliance issues related to unsupported software

It should also be noted that there are non-PCI DSS compliance issues related to unsupported software and this could potentially leave your business exposed should there be a data breach or fraudulent activity.

POP are experienced at developing for Magento 2, from more straight-forward e-commerce projects, to large multi-store front, multi-currency websites, so if you or someone you know would like to know more about moving to Magento v.2 or to Adobe Magento from another e-commerce platform, please drop us an email and we will be happy to help.

POP celebrates 11 years in business

This December POP officially turned 11-years old, launching the same year as the first iPhone, the year young people (questionably) wore scarves with T-shirts and the year Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II pipped Queen Victoria to become the oldest ever monarch.

Many things have changed since 2007, however, the one thing we are always grateful for is the trust and support of our clients and suppliers; so a sincere thank you, we hope to still be working together in another 11 years.

As Massimo Vignelli said: “If you do it right, it will last forever”.

In the constantly evolving, sometimes faddish world of design, we are proud of the fact that the work above are still looks great today, despite some of it being a decade old.

We attribute the longevity of our work to our thorough approach and our aim to create work that is timeless, especially when it comes to identity. As Massimo Vignelli said: “If you do it right, it will last forever”.

What else happened in 2007? Here’s a few of the key events:

Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs announced the first iPhone, saving us all from a future of dull PDAs with little pointy sticks
Author J. K. Rowling finished the 7th and final Harry Potter novel, ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’, in room 552 of the Bamoral Hotel, Edinburgh
Nancy Pelosi was elected as the first female Speaker of the House in US history
Bulgaria and Romania officially joined the European Union
Blogging website Tumblr was founded by David Karp in New York
Coen brothers film ‘No Country for Old Men’ premiered at the Cannes Film Festival
Actress Helen Mirren won a Golden Globe for her role in The Queen
Veteran singer Rod Stewart married Penny Lancaster
Rihanna released her hit single ‘Umbrella’, it stayed for 7 weeks at No.1 on US Billboard Hot 100
Robbie Power riding Silver Birch won the 160th Grand National
Nicolas Sarkozy became the 23rd President of France
Cutty Sark, the last surviving tea clipper, was badly damaged by fire
Smoking was banned from public places in the UK
The first large scale exhibition of seminal Mexican artist Frida Kahlo’s work in Mexico opened on the 100th anniversary of her birth
Gordon Brown became UK Prime Minister
The hashtag was invented and first used in a tweet by US product designer Chris Messina as a way of grouping information about a particular topic
AOL, once the largest internet service provider in the US, officially announced plans to refocus the company as an advertising business
Jason Lewis completed the first human-powered circumnavigation of the globe

Photo by Micheile Henderson on Unsplash