N8 Agrifood asked us to create a website that would present them as a leader in their field by showcasing their research efforts towards the sustainable and resilient future of our food.

This WordPress web development project delivered beautiful design and a seamless user experience.

Background

The N8 AgriFood team, part of the N8 Research Partnership, works to ensure sustainable, resilient and healthy food.

An interdisciplinary programme driven by collaboration between the eight most research-intensive universities in the North of England (Durham, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and York), the group combines strong livestock and crop research with extensive expertise in social sciences, professional research management and business development support.

N8 Agrifood recognises that in order to guarantee a sustainable and resilient future for our food, institutions and industry – at local, regional and international levels – must address sustainable uses of energy and raw materials and target the needs of consumers in ways that not only focus on cost and convenience, but also on long-term health goals.

Challenge

There are some significant numbers at play within the N8 Agrifood initiative: £269 million of funding available for research, over 450 researchers and 150 PhD students working in agrifood resilience, plus considerable facilities including glasshouses, farms, laboratories and workshops.

Having already worked with N8 in the past, the N8 Agrifood group asked us to create a website that would distil the scale and complexity of their efforts and what the initiative is trying to achieve through a design that showcases who N8 Agrifood are and what they do, in a user-friendly and visually engaging way.

The new website also had to include scope for quick and easy updates by N8 Agrifood staff, as well as increase the flexibility they have over content.

Solution

Built as a WordPress web development project, we customised the website to achieve N8’s objectives.

The result is a fluid website that pulls users in immediately. Leading with a powerful image carousel, the simple layout presents large amounts of information in a clear way, with a multi-level menu structure that encourages users to investigate and discover the resources and research findings N8 Agrifood makes available to them.

In line with industry best practices, the website was designed and built to be a ‘mobile first’ fully responsive web application with a strong focus on performance and SEO.

This WordPress web development project also incorporates a resource document download facility and a careers area, as well as acting as an easily searchable online staff directory.