hydrant win 'Best of Cumbria' in 'bigchip' awards

Hydrant picked up the 'Best of Cumbria' award at a glittering ceremony held in central Manchester last week, beating off competition to come away with an award for their e-commerce web site for quality meat producer Richard Woodall.

Now in its ninth year, this year’s Big Chip Awards boasted twenty-five categories including sub-regional categories for Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Lancashire and Cheshire & Warrington and boasts Microsoft, Yahoo and the North West Development Agency (NWDA) among this year’s sponsors.

Andrew Halliwell, Acting Head of Regional ICT Policy at the NWDA, said: “The calibre of all the entries demonstrates that we have a thriving digital sector in the Northwest capable of supporting thousands of workers. The Big Chip Awards are a chance for the NWDA to reward those individuals who are striving to make the Northwest a beacon for digital excellence not only nationally but on a global scale."

The e-commerce web site, designed by Hydrant in 2006 has seen a 40% increase in mail order turnover, and received a very favourable response from users. Managing Director Colin Woodall explained "We are very pleased with the site. It has clearly increased our e-commerce sales and has also proven to be a very valuable online information tool. The site has attracted favourable comment from many people."

The web site was part funded by the Distinctly Cumbrian ITC scheme run by Cumbria Rurual Enterprise Agency (CREA).