GFW

GFW, a leading property and land specialists, approached us for a new website that could match the scale and size of their business. With multiple sectors offering a wide range of services, their new site needed to accommodate a range of different needs, both for their team and their users.

On top of that, GFW needed a website that integrated Reapit, a property management tool, so they could easily manage and display listings across various platforms. Our challenge was to design a site that could match GFW’s needs, meaning we would have to take a hybrid approach in the building stage.

At the heart of the build was a seamless integration with Reapit, which allowed the internal team to import and manage property listings directly within the CMS, helping the front end of the site stay up to date in real time.

Normally, the plugin property hive is used to build sites for estate agents, but for this design we just used property hive as a starting platform. GFW needed more from their site, so we built a custom solution on top. We took a hybrid approach, combining property hive and our custom build to create website features that would support GFW’s needs.

We understood that users would be interacting with very different parts of the business, so we built a custom search tool that allowed for polygon search. This allowed users to find exactly what they needed as they were able to accurately find properties in their desired area through postcode search.

To make the build as collaborative and functional as possible, we delivered client training early in the process, giving the GFW  team access to the site before it was completed. This helped them get familiar with the CMS, provide real time feedback, and start creating new website content well ahead of launch.

This site has been built with performance and usability in mind. The custom search functionality ensures users can search by department or service effortlessly, while the Reapit integration has smoothly handled the processes for property management.

The early stage training also gave the team a real sense of understanding over their new site, being so actively involved in all the different stages of their website build allowed them to  offer help speeding up the launch process and reducing back and forth in the final stages of the build.

The finished site is a bold and professional digital presence for GFW, reflecting their position as a trusted consultancy across the North of England. It’s flexible, scalable, and completely manageable in- house, meaning the team has the tools they need to continue growing online.

This project brought a unique set of challenges, and we really enjoyed working closely with the GFW team to deliver a solution that was every bit as considered and expert as they are.