Demolition Jobs
Paul Sawyer at Web Preference Ltd has already built and managed a number of commercial websites for me in the past but, when I went to him with my idea for www.demolition-jobs.co.uk, I knew that it was going to be a markedly different challenge.
The basic concept behind www.demolition-jobs.co.uk was to provide the newly redundant and the long-term unemployed of the demolition sector with an online shop window through which to advertise their availability to work. But while I had attracted some initial backing from the National Federation of Demolition Contractors to get this off the ground, this was a strictly altruistic, not-for-profit initiative. While I wasn’t expecting Web Preference to work for nothing, I was seeking some cost-effective solutions to some very tricky design problems.
One of the key challenges of the website was that many people within the demolition industry are not overly web savvy. The site, therefore, needed to be slick and professional but, above all, simple-to-use and easy to navigate.
Web Preference’s solution ticked all those boxes and a good many more. A simple email verification tool – the brainchild of Paul Sawyer – will help minimise spam while the use of drop-down menus makes the initial sign-up extremely easy and fast. And this is mirrored with the ease with which would-be employers can find prospective candidates for job vacancies.
I officially launched the website to more than 200 demolition professionals on Friday 6 March 2009 and was absolutely delighted by the response. Furthermore, despite an exceptionally high level of initial traffic, the site has proved to be extremely robust.
I would like to think that the site will help a lot of people back into employment within the demolition industry but, even if it helps just one person, it would have served its purpose. And we couldn’t have done that without the input of Paul Sawyer and Web Preference Ltd.
Mark Anthony
Creator of the concept and content provider
