A review of the business in the wake of trends accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in Pillory Barn being contracted by Earl Street Recruitment in July 2022 to deliver a brand refresh along with an improved online experience.
Rebranding was the focus of the first part of the project with consultations, stakeholder sessions, presentations and final designs approved by November that year. The web project was more complicated – and took the best part of a year to complete – but the results have proved a ‘gamechanger’ for the business.
Launched in September 2023, the new website has made it easier for potential candidates to sign up, register and interact with the business. It’s also freed up time for the seven-strong team to focus on their most important role – matching candidates with clients for a broad range of temporary and permanent roles.
Alex Craven,
Director, Earl Street Recruitment
“The website has certainly been a game changer, allowing candidates to sign up and register online, submit CVs and soon they will be able to upload a short video presentation.
“The journey has been very positive with Pillory Barn with a rebrand and website that has made us more competitive and brought us into the 21st Century.”
What we delivered
Discovery and Research: Meetings with all project stakeholders were conducted to gain an in-depth understanding of the requirements and discuss project deliverables. This helped in creating a grid of tasks and actions to be completed in line with the requirements.
User Experience (UX) Workshop: An interactive session with the stakeholder team at Earl Street Recruitment was hosted to map out the overall journey and experience of site users. This helped in determining the structure, sequential order, and hierarchy of all main sections of the new website in wireframe format.
Design: Designs were created for the homepage (desktop and mobile) and all required templates for inner pages. The design included brand elements, colour schemes, typography, and imagery. The designs were presented for feedback, amendments, and approval.
Development: The website was built using WordPress as the Content Management System (CMS). The development process included installing and setting up the WordPress CMS, integrating required add-ons, and building and testing responsive navigation, templates, page types, and content blocks. Accessibility tasks were carried out to ensure compliance with WCAG 2.1 AA standards. The website was also optimised for performance and tested across multiple devices and browsers.
WP Job Manager Integration: The website included a recruitment platform powered by WP Job Manager. This allowed for job listings, job posting functions, user dashboards, profiles, alerts, application processes, job search, and bookmarks.
Content Migration/Population: Selected content from the existing website was migrated and the new website populated with imagery and text supplied by the client.
Testing and Validation: The website underwent testing, including user acceptance testing, multi-device testing, forms testing, and speed and performance optimisation. Accessibility testing was also conducted using automated software and manual checks.
Training: A training session was provided on how to use the CMS and manage content, navigation, and SEO tools. Guidance was also provided on common steps and processes needed to create and manage pages.
Launch: The website was launched, and necessary actions were taken, such as submitting the site to search engines, installing security measures, and generating an XML sitemap.
The Result
The website project delivered a user-friendly and visually appealing website for Earl Street Recruitment, with features such as a recruitment platform, responsive design, accessibility compliance, and a content management system for easy updates and management.
Ongoing support
Hosting: Hosting for the website was provided on servers located in an ISO27001 accredited data centre. The hosting package included server support and regular backups.
Maintenance and Support: Ongoing maintenance and support for the website was offered, including keeping the CMS and plugins up to date and providing additional tasks on a request basis.
Increase in applications
Time saving in processing candidates
Visit the website
