New website leads to online growth for Rochdale manufacturer

Fire-Mech Fixings, a manufacturer and supplier of pipe support, brackets and associated products, have seen a 400% increase in web traffic following support from GC Business Growth Hub.

Established in Rochdale over 25 years ago and with 13 members of staff, the company is a market leader in its sector, supplying the fire sprinkler and mechanical service industries, and working on some of the largest warehousing, industrial and retail premises in the UK.

While the firm was performing well, it recognised the need to develop an ecommerce website to help increase demand from other industrial sectors.

Therefore, the company contacted GC Business Growth Hub, part of The Growth Company, looking for support. Working with Fire-Mech’s IT Manager Jason Griffin, Hub Digital Growth Advisor, Chris Murphy introduced a new digital strategy to the business.

Core to this was the creation of a new website based on a user experience analysis of the existing site. This showed that structural changes were needed to enhance both the user experience and the sales conversion rate of the site.

To drive traffic to the new site, Chris also provided Jason with Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) training and data capture training so he could better understand the behaviour of online visitors.

 

 

As a direct result of the implementation of the new digital strategy, the business has won several new clients. Due to this growth, the company has also taken on eight new members of staff across all areas of the company.

Jason Griffin said: “We needed a more robust website that would help us monitor online interest in the company and convert this into new customers.

“Chris’s experience and expertise was invaluable and helped us to achieve the online presence that we wanted, guiding us through the whole process and making sure we understood why certain changes were necessary, while always being aware of budget constraints.

“Because of Chris’ help, we now have a much greater understanding of ecommerce and what it can do for the business.”

Chris Murphy added: “Fire-Mech Fixings were already performing very well and had a solid customer base. Nonetheless, Jason and his colleagues knew the company had the ability to bring in more business by improving its online presence.

“Given the company’s history and existing good reputation, by focusing on the weaker areas of the original site, we were able to vastly improve traffic to the site and then convert these new visitors into increased sales for the company.”

Businesses looking to access specialist support can visit for more information about the organisation’s extensive range of services. This and other GC Business Growth Hub projects are part-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the GM Business Growth Hub project designed to help ambitious SME businesses achieve growth and increase employment in Greater Manchester.

• www.businessgrowthhub.com