Laverock Hall Farm

Laverock Hall Farm operate from a rural farm setting in Northumberland where their descendants have occupied farming land for over a century. They produce some of the finest produce available in the UK in the sector of pet supplies, including wild bird seed, pigeon corn, grains and a vast range of general pet supplies.

They contacted ClarityWEB with a view to promoting their supplies to a UK wide audience as well as improving their regional presence.

Our introduction to Valdine and Chris Hogg came after they'd spent considerable time looking at various website options, speak to business advisory services and then coming to the conclusion that there must be a simpler and less confusing way forward. After an initial meeting they appointed ClarityWEB for the design, development and future optimisation of their business online.

It became clear from the outset that the products offered by Laverock Hall Farm were of considerably higher value in ethics and quality than almost any other competitor in the UK. Despite the claims of their competitors they were unique in being one of very few retailers in the UK who produce goods onsite through traditional, yet technologically advanced, methods on truly rural farmland with a heritage there for all to see.

Visiting the farm for the first time, with its idyllic willow hanging over a natural pond that has been on site for as long as anyone can remember, and seeing the beds of reeds, sunlight reflecting off the surface of the water and hearing the song of birds in the nearby woodland, provided the ideal creative mindset for the website that was to follow.

Graphical Impact

So, how do you convey the countryside setting and the farm to a user in an instant?

Our vision was to create a graphically intensive background - but to add a seasonal change within the control of visitors. A full screen farmland scene forms the backdrop for the website with transparent text and image sections that leave the visitor in no doubt that they've arrived at the website of a company with nature at its heart.

Lead Web Graphic Designer, Ben Hope, said 'I thoroughly enjoyed working on the design for Laverock Hall Farm. I was given the creative freedom to let go with a design that would be pleasing to the visitor but also account for varying tastes and moods'.

The client loved the design from the moment they first saw it - but that didn't stop Chris Hogg asking us to make sure we sourced the style of Tractor that was accurate to those used on the farm! However, it was a perfectly reasonable request and was pleasing to see someone putting in the same care and attention to detail as we always try to.

This attention to detail was furthered when our seasonal designs were altered to reflect the wildlife found at the various times of year, adjusting the colour schemes to best reflect the annual shifts in light and fauna - and not forgetting the fact we even changed the style of farmhouse and trees to suit the landscape around the farm.

Product Highlights

A visually impressive website isn't much use without structure and content. To achieve this we focussed on ensuring first time visitors would be presented with Special Offer items yet have ease of access to the full range of Products available.

It would have been easy to adopt a more complex navigational scheme but we opted for a short menu system that made life simple for visitors. So, access to the full range of products is gained via a single link with a category and product structure behind - and product summary and detail pages forming the detail.

The menu was supplemented by a small graphic representing a bag of grain, adding that little extra touch of thought that parallels the products the client prides themselves in.

Custom Content Management

If you've read other ClarityWEB case studies you'll be aware we don't use off-the-shelf Content Management Systems. We don't use templates and nor do we subscribe to the dot-to-dot approach of filling in the blanks that others have created.

Laverock Hall Farm valued this and have yet another custom developed CMS at their disposal. Every element of our CMS work was designed and programmed to their requirements; ease, accessibility, speed, lack of complication, single click operation yet commercially powerful and operationally capable.

Photography

Good products are often portayed badly with customer provided imagery. Laverock were aware of this and asked ClarityWEB to take care of all the photographic requirements for their product range.

Over 180 images were taken of the base stock, cut-out and uniformly imposed with the same backgrounds, adjusted for true colour and then provided to the client in a variety of sizes. Our professional photography equipment was used on-site and all imagery needs were addressed in a single afternoon.

Stockist Control

With distributors and stockists throughout the region it was important for Laverock Hall Farm to tell their visitors where products could be purchased if they didn't wish to buy directly. The stockists section of the website provides a simple yet effective way of doing so and is maintained through the custom CMS. It also encourages possible future retailers to join the growing list of Laverock Hall Farm clients.

News

As a vital cog in ensuring a website maintains changable content, our News CMS allows the client to post items of interest that are automatically archived with the most recent item being used on the Home Page of the site.

An image can be associated with each news item and is drawn from our incredibly popular Image Library tool that allows ClarityWEB clients to re-use images across their sites or build up a library of pictures to use in the future - all housed on our web hosting servers with no strain on their own storage resources.

Client Feedback

To say that the site has been well received would be an understatement. The Laverock Hall Farm site also brought about a ClarityWEB first. Before the site even went live we had been recommended to a client of Laverock - and within a week of meeting them we'd received yet another commission for a full website project.

It was testament to the effort that had gone into the Laverock project and we are genuinely grateful to Valdine and Chris Hogg for conveying their satisfaction with our services in such a positive light.

What Laverock Hall Farm Said...

Asking clients what they think to their experience with us is an important part of our relationship. We thoroughly enjoyed the Laverock Hall Farm project and believe we've achieved a genuinely attractive, unique and commercially capable end result.

However, our own thoughts mean little in comparison to those of the client so we asked Valdine and Chris for their feedback on ClarityWEB:

"We approached Clarity for a website with just a tentative enquiry but upon meeting Chris we were so fired by his enthusiasm and his knowledge that we agreed almost immediately to appointing them."

"Although Chris didn't know a lot about farming or what we do in manufacturing bird foods and pigeon corns he appeared to immediately grasp our concept and asked all the right questions to produce a website which we are thrilled with."

"The back-up and support has been second to none from Chris and his team. All e-mails for help have been answered immediately without being patronising - an important touch for novices like ourselves (Thank you Ben). Chris and his team gave us confidence with the custom CMS and feel that I was contributing to our website and learning all the time."

"Any changes we required or tweaking of pictures was responded to almost immediately and nothing was too much trouble. We would have no hesitation in recommending Clarity to all of our Business and Social contacts who require websites or advice."

Chris Shaw, Managing Director of ClarityWEB, said "One of the joys of web development is the diverse range of projects we work on. Laverock Hall Farm presented us with a rare opportunity to flex our creative muscle and learn something new - that being how much time, care and attention goes into the production of what one might often take for granted - such as grain!"

"Valdine and Chris have a site that shines head and shoulders above their competition - as is only befitting for the products they manufacture."