Web Developers in Cumbria
Vertebrate are now based in Cumbria and after 8 years of designing websites we thought we should put up a little history rather than the standard blurb that most about pages have.
The London Years
We started up as a web design company back in 1998. We'd already been avid users of the internet for 2 years. We were living in London and were lucky enough to get ourselves on the very first trial for Broadband ADSL that BT was running at the time. That early and highly experimental broadband connection changed how we used the internet. It gave us a glimpse of what people would do with the web once they were freed from the shackles of dial-up modems, dropped connections and having the telephone line permanently engaged. There was a revolution coming. And don't be fooled into thinking you've missed it if you're just joining the internet now; nothing could be further from the truth.
Things we're very different back in '98. If you asked someone what their website address was you'd often get a blank expression. E-commerce was something that pretty much only Amazon did. Don't get us wrong, others were trying but most of the sites didn't actually work so buying things online did actually require a degree in computer sciences.
The Brighton Years
Brighton Seafront
By 2001 we'd been in London for a long time and we weren't enjoying the sweet sound of car alarms and angry people anymore. As soon as Broadband started to get introduced nationally we moved to Brighton and had a really good 5 years there.
During this time we made many sites for a very diverse group of people and companies. What became apparent was that no matter who you were or what your website did, every site editor faced the same problems and lost countless hours to the same repetitive tasks. We started to dream about making the perfect web publishing system. A system that could take care of the tedious stuff.
The Cumbria Years
We'd been working everyday (and more than the occasional night) for 5 years and we heard about this thing called a Holiday. So we took one. To Cumbria. We loved it so much that we decided to move here. We were only here for 5 days but it was enough to make our minds up. If you've ever been to the Lake District you'll probably understand. If you live here you almost certainly do. If you've never been here... why not?
One of the great things about living rurally and being a programmer is that you can finally find the peace you need to concentrate and do the really hard stuff. So that dream of the perfect easy web publishing system became a plan. And then a whole lot of code and finally a system called Weblobe.
Borrowdale Sheep
We've been really surprised by how adaptable people can be. Some of the businesses run up here are really innovative and the Cumbrian people have had to put up with a lot especially the farmers after the foot and mouth fiasco.
In Cumbria there are initiatives to get small businesses online, for example Distinctly Cumbrian, and they're good schemes that are helping people. For those of us who've had broadband for the last 8 years it's important to remember that the more rural parts of the country have only had it for just over a year and some of the really rural places are still out of reach but that will change in time.
Now
We're Web Designers in Cumbria and I think we're staying.
We still work with our clients from London and a lot of them have become friends and it's not at all unusual for one of them to literally run to these hills to see us (and the Hills). That's one of the beautiful things about the internet. It doesn't matter who you are or where you are. If you've got a decent net connection you can change the world, or at least send a few emails, check your orders via the weblobe admin system, get the news etc.
If you want to know more you can read about The Team, What we do, how we do it and how much it costs.
If you're inclined towards tech speak you might want to read Exactly What We Do.
Geek or not, do feel free to contact us.