Last night was Information Solutions 20th Anniversary! We celebrated with a small gathering in our building. Was great to catch up with the team, suppliers and customers. Here’s to the next 20 years!
Sophos Partner Event
I’m here for the Sophos Partner Event at MK-7 hashtag#sophosprs23 hashtag#tdsynnexsecured
Town invites visitors from county and beyond with website launch
South West Shropshire welcomes visitors from around the world due to the wealth of scenery, history and culture. To further aid awareness of the area and all it has to offer, the Bishops Castle and Beyond website (www.bishopscastleandbeyond.co.uk) has been developed to serve businesses and visitors alike.
The website created by Shropshire web design and marketing agency, The Web Orchard (www.theweborchard.com), provides an extensive one-stop-shop for visitors to discover and explore this popular destination. Information and inspiration are key from where to visit, stay, eat and all the wonders South West Shropshire has to offer. Website visitors can for the first time experience the scale of what the area has to offer and even curate their own bespoke itinerary to make the most of their visit however long it may be.
Launch of the new website was marked by a celebration event at Enterprise House on 16 January as members of businesses and organisations from across the area joined together for its unveiling.
Along with attracting new and past visitors to the area, the comprehensive website is also an opportunity for the many independent businesses, attractions and locations throughout South West Shropshire to be seen like never before.
Polly Owen, The Enterprise Initiative: “It has been a pleasure working with Pete and the team from Web Orchard and a real bonus for us to find a high-quality local web developer. They have guided us through the development of the website with professionalism and patience and were on hand at every stage to answer queries or provide support.
“The Web Orchard’s vision and support ensured the project achieved its objectives and delivered a high quality and visually stunning, intuitive and interactive website.”
Pete White, Director at The Web Orchard said: “As a Shropshire business, it has been a privilege to work with the Enterprise House Team to deliver this project and help further put Shropshire, it’s wealth of experiences, attractions, and its businesses on the map.”
Partnering with The Web Orchard were two Shropshire businesses, Carl Jones Design and 7video. Supporting the project with eye catching designs and a library of videos to showcase the area, the results bring the locations to life on screen.
BishopsCastleandBeyond.co.uk is ready to inspire visitors and start planning their next trip from today.
20 Years of Switchweb
In April 2002 we first launched Switchweb, our low cost provider of PHP and MYSQL hosting for websites. Twenty years later and that mission still stands clear but we’ve added a range of great features along the way.
Today I’m pleased to announce a new set of features which have come to new and existing customers:
- Free SSL certificates with all packages* – as well as our paid for SSL certificates you now have the option of adding a free Lets Encrypt certificate to your package.
- PHP 8.2 – the latest and most secure version of PHP is now available to select within your control panel meaning you can select PHP versions all the way from 5.3 to 8.2.
- 10GB Mailboxes – the default mailbox size for all our email accounts has increased from 1GB to 10GB. All our packages come with unlimited 10GB mailboxes!
- Auto Diagnosis of common issues – our Auto Diagnosis feature lets you check common misconfigurations such as DNS settings, malware detection, file permissions and blacklist checking.
For existing customers you will notice that our control panel has received a facelift – we’ve made this easier and quicker to use meaning that configuring your hosting is better than ever.
The Switchweb signup process has also been improved and we now use the Stripe payment gateway as well as PayPal meaning that your credit or debit card transactions are safe and secure.
Our prices are still some of the lowest in the industry with packages starting from just £39/year.
Finally we’re pleased to be able to say that all our hosting is powered by 100% renewable energy.
The hosting industry has changed massively over the past twenty years but Switchweb has been at the forefront and with the platform changes we’ve put into place we’re giving our customers the tools they need to succeed in to the future.
To sign up to Switchweb simply, choose a package from our homepage.
* Lets Encrypt SSL certificates require your domain to point its name servers at our services.
Information Solutions/The Web Orchard Support The Movement Centre
Shropshire charity The Movement Centre is delighted to have the support of Information Solutions/The Web Orchard for a second year running.
The Covid-19 pandemic has had a catastrophic effect on charities, with the cancellation of events and the loss of income. At a time when funding is difficult, Information Solutions/The Web Orchard have stepped up to support The Movement Centre, in the form of free hosting and support of their website.
With over a decade providing high quality web design and IT services to businesses and charities throughout the West Midlands, Information Solutions/The Web Orchard is an established company with a proven track record in its sectors. With many satisfied clients and excellent retention rates, Information Solutions/The Web Orchard can provide competitive and cost effective websites and IT support.
Pete White, Director of Information Solutions/The Web Orchard, says “It’s great to be able to extend our support for The Movement Centre. Their targeted training therapy is essential for transforming the lives of children and we’re happy to help out where we can.”
The Movement Centre based in Oswestry, support children with additional needs through their therapy Targeted Training. The treatment has been helping to transform the range of movement of children with cerebral palsy and other disabilities affecting their mobility for the last 25 years. It helps children gain head control so that they can interact with those around them, sit unaided and can lead to gaining the ability to walk.
Johnny Wilkes, CEO at The Movement Centre, says “We are delighted to have the ongoing support of Information Solutions/The Web Orchard. The hosting and support of our website is an integral part of our work, and we are so pleased that they have agreed to support those ongoing costs for the next 12 months.”
Shrewsbury Messy Play Group Creates Activity Boxes
A nice article on my wifes business:
A Shrewsbury based messy play group, Ready Steady Let’s Get Messy which has been unable to operate since March has pivoted to creating activity boxes for toddlers and babies.
For the group owner, Laura White, it was a big change from the sessions she was used to delivering. She made an initial 20 Halloween themed boxes to test the water, they sold within 24 hours.
She set a more ambitious target of 70 boxes between then and Christmas. They sold out by early December, she spent much of the month hand making play dough, assembling boxes and going back and forth to the post office.
Laura learnt a lot about which activities and products worked well and with some great feedback from customers she were able to refine what she did and how she did it.
Laura had plenty of ideas for other themed boxes, the initial run of Dinosaur boxes sold within a few days. Her latest creation is the Woodland box, she wanted to get natural elements into a box so that children could experience wood and leaves as well as her home made play dough, cloud dough and coloured rice.
The boxes are priced £19 with free delivery in the Shrewsbury area. They are available to purchase through her website www.letsgetmessy.co.uk and through her Facebook page.
2020 – a year to remember!
When we started 2020, we had no idea what the year had in store for us, we started with flooding and spent the rest of the year under Covid restrictions. It forced us all into embracing new technologies and adapting the way we work and provide services.
As a technology provider we’ve been key in helping our customers adapt, services like Microsoft Teams, Office 365, WordPress and SharePoint have become essential in our day to day lives. We’ve helped with digital transformation, whether that is utilising new cloud services, Apps, E-commerce Websites, Intranets, or providing cutting-edge services.
Here’s a look back at what we did in 2020.
What we did in 2020
Spent many hours on Teams
We moved all our project meetings, pitches and training sessions to either Teams or Zoom – it took a while to get use to it but now it feels almost normal.
Launched Some Great Websites
We worked on some great projects for some great customers including… Nettex Poultry, Hospital Direct, Mystique Lingerie, Wrekin Spirit, Waste Spectrum, Air Spectrum, The Broking Group, GKN Structures and NowCars.
Became Cyber Essentials Certified
In September we became Cyber Essentials Certified meaning that any customer can be rest assured that their defences are secure against the most common forms of cyber-attack and we are proactively using best practice methods to counter any such attack. Read more
Developed some great Apps
We worked on a number of iOS and Android app projects and have a number in the pipeline for 2021. Read more
Welcomed Dan
We welcomed Dan to as our new developer back in September. He’s been a great addition to an already strong team.
We hope that over the festive period you all get chance to spend time with your loved ones, to relax, to switch off and to re-energise in anticipation of a new year full of opportunity and freedom.
See you in 2021.
Information Solutions, a Shropshire based IT Services Company, become fully “Cyber Essentials” Certified, backed by UK Government.
Information Solutions fully accredited on UK Government assurance theme operated by the National Security Centre that encourages organisations to adopt good practice in cyber security.
Information Solutions, a managed IT Services and Support company based in Shrewsbury, are delighted to announce that they have recently passed full accreditation of “Cyber Essentials”, a UK government scheme to ensure organisations adopt good practice in information security.
This is particularly important for their current and future clients, as they can be confident that Information Solutions are taking all best practice measures to guard against cybercrime and just as importantly, continually monitoring all systems and security.
Any customer of Information Solutions, or sister website development company The Web Orchard, can rest assured that their defences are secure against the most common forms of cyber-attack, and indeed the company are proactively using best practice methods to counter any such attack.
Wrekin Spirit, a Shropshire based Gin distillery, launch exciting new website to sell their new hand-crafted gin and distillery tours
A 2-year journey from initial idea to gin schools, tours and sales is complete – with a fantastic website to showcase the locally run family business
Wrekin Spirit is an exciting new craft Gin distillery set in a converted cart shed in the beautiful Shropshire countryside. At Wrekin Spirit, every batch of Gin they distill is hand crafted with a unique blend of botanicals, giving their Gin an individual character and natural flavours.
A true family run business, Wrekin Spirit (named after the famous Shropshire landmark The Wrekin) is homed on a 4th Generation family run farm with Isabel Moseley as Managing Director, husband Richard as groundsman and chief barman, with eldest son Harvey and twins Fred and Sam all helping run the business.
Whilst perfecting the making of the Gin, and creating the Gin schools and Distillery tours, Isabel knew she wanted a striking state-of-the-art website that could showcase the Gin, and allow customers to both buy the product and book a tour online quickly and easily.
Based on the recommendation of a local business owner, Isabel appointed local website company The Web Orchard. Isabel comments “I strongly believe in keeping business local and also use recommendations of people that I trust, so I didn’t shop around at all. I met with Peter and Simon from The Web Orchard and was impressed from the outset; they were very likable but professional and grasped from the outset what we were seeking to achieve from the website”.
“Between us we made the decision to appoint a professional photographer for the website images and I’m pleased that we did, as the photos on the new website really showcase both the Gin itself but also the Gin school and distillery tours. The Web Orchard have done a great job with the website build and we have basic editing rights so we can make changes to the content, add products or change prices”
“The feedback about our website from customers has been really good and we are pleased to report that sales of both the Gin and the tours are going well, with no issues to report at all. We are very pleased with the end result.”
Peter White, Director of The Web Orchard, adds,
“The Web Orchard were delighted to be chosen to build a brand-new website for a much talked about new local business, and Wrekin Spirit were a pleasure to work with throughout the process. The Gin school is a stunning place to visit and we were really excited to be able to build the website for such a great new endeavor.”
To see the new website, visit https://www.wrekinspirit.co.uk
Mystique Lingerie and Swimwear Unveil Brand New, Contemporary e-Commerce Website
33 years in Shrewsbury town centre and have now launched a state-of-the-art e-commerce website to help attract a new target audience
Mystique is Shrewsbury’s premier Lingerie, Swimwear and Nightware specialists situated in a lovely cobbled street, on the corner of Butcher Row in the beautiful historic market town of Shrewsbury.
The business has been trading 33 years and Debbie and Paul Carvell purchased Mystique in April 2019.
Debbie decided she wanted the business to move with the times and attract new customers and a younger demographic, so commissioned the building of a new e-commerce website.
Debbie comments:
“I brought the shop from the previous owners in April 2019. I was previously a primary school teacher so a bit of a career change! When the opportunity arose to buy Mystique, I was excited, having been a regular customer for many years, always dreaming of becoming my own boss and owning my lingerie business was a dream come true. Fashion and design have always been a big focus in my life.
I had a modest marketing budget for the first year and made the decision that Mystique needed to modernise and build an e-commerce website. Our lingerie and underwear are high end luxury products which are usually purchased in person – browsing, touching, feeling – but I knew Mystique needed a modern e-commerce site to broaden our customer base. Of course, a website in theory should mean anyone in the UK or Worldwide could purchase from us, especially if our luxury items start ranking organically in search engines.
Even if the website became an online brochure to browse the products, before a customer came to visit the shop and buy, I decided it was worth the investment.
The walk-in retail market has been a challenge since I took over Mystique. Huge local floods, Brexit and then Coronavirus! Despite this, I pressed on with my initial decision.
Debbie continues, “I chose The Web Orchard after being recommended them by someone who I trust a lot. I met with Pete and Simon and was impressed with what they had to say and being a local company was a real bonus too. I like to keep business local and I could do that with The Web Orchard.
We worked together during lockdown as I knew the retail walk in landscape would change for many months, so I was keen to have the e-commerce platform in place as quickly as possible.
I’m very impressed with the end result – they have delivered a very high quality and visual site, which shows off our luxury lingerie and underwear very well, to a standard where people may have the confidence to buy online.
Pete White, Director of The Web Orchard, adds “We always enjoy working in the fashion industry, especially with high end brands such as those sold by Mystique. The website and products look great and should help support the walk in retail sales and attract additional new customers for Mystique in these challenging times”
To see the new website, visit www.mystique.co.uk