Case Studies:
Garden of England cottages have a portfolio of cottages in Kent and Sussex which they rent out on their owners behalf.
Our first contact with GOEC was to help them get these Kent and Sussex cottages online with live availability so their customers could research and book properties online.
During our initial consultations we found they were using some off-the-shelf software running on their local computers to store the properties, their availabilities and bookings throughout the year. Rather than replicate this data online we researched how this software operated and set about developing a series of tools to enable them to synchronize their data across the internet.
They now have a state of the art website with live availability, an advanced search engine, a full content management system and online payment facilities.
We continue to support Garden Of England Cottages on a monthly basis.
Through a contact we had a company was appointed to carry out the project. Things started well but it soon became apparent, despite the original hype, that the project was beyond the company’s capability partly because all the work was being outsourced. After considerable discussion it was agreed that it was just not going to work to our satisfaction so we decided to go our separate ways.
This time we used the resources of Business Link to find another company for the project. This led us to 360. A specification was agreed and work started in the summer of 2007. In September 2007 we launched our new website which was extremely well received by all. Dealing with Dan Creasy and the staff at 360 was a breath of fresh air after our previous experiences.
Regular meetings and communication took place (and still does) in order to get the new site as we all wanted it. The advice given was invaluable especially using SecPay as the payment vehicle. We have now received well over 1,000 bookings from the site.
On going maintenance is provided by 360 and we have made a considerable number of adjustments since the launch last year. This is not saying we made mistakes but it is surprising how ideas come about for constantly improving it - a good job done at a fair price by the 360 team.
Nigel Hubble - Director
Garden Of England Properties
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