About the site

Accord’s site, at www.accordplc.com, is an attractive and easy-to-use web presence aimed at raising the profile of the company in its varied target markets.  Accord is a relatively young company but has experienced considerable success in its first ten years of operation, now generating revenues of more than £240 million ($420 million) annually.

Accord is a leading provider of support services whose key market sectors have historically been central and local government; in recent years though, the company’s commercial approach has seen significant growth for their business in the private sector too.  Their web site meets the informational needs of all of these various groups and provides an introduction to the extensive, and sometimes complex, range of services that the company provides through its business units.

The Accord home page provides navigation to each main content area as well as to the sites of individual business units.

Getting started

Although an initial online presence had been developed for the promotion of its business, Accord identified the need to provide a level of consistency across all business units within the Group.  In some cases, this involved the replacement of existing sites established under individual business unit initiatives.

The reasoning behind this was the presentation of a unified company with a set of core values and an ethical approach to conducting business.  It was felt that success of the new site framework would be achieved if the following objectives were met:

·         Increase in unique monthly visitors.

·         Simple request method for visitors requiring further company information.

·         Collection of information on new target customers.

·         Increase in stakeholder awareness of the Accord brand.

·         Achievement of 99% employee awareness of Accord brand values.

·         Publishing of all press releases online within 24 hours.

·         Achievement of 75% awareness of Accord’s ethical values.

It was also decided that the opportunity should be taken to incorporate content management functionality into site development.  This was viewed as a means by which updating the Group site could be vastly simplified, minimising the need for extensive external agency involvement or training of existing staff in web development.  It was also an objective that management of content on business units’ sites could be devolved to individuals within those business units themselves.

It was a requirement that the business unit web sites continue the corporate style provided on the Group site.

Developing and implementing the solution

IS Solutions was selected for this project because it was able to offer web design expertise combined with a cost-effective and functional technical solution for content management.

The initial stages involved a requirements gathering exercise in order to understand the business dynamics of the company and the specific expectations of their web sites.  This took the form of a workshop approach, facilitated by IS Solutions and involving representatives from both Accord’s Group office and early adopter business units.  The output of this approach was documented and presented to Accord for approval.

The design process incorporated creative briefing and storyboarding stages using corporate identity guidelines that had already been formulated.  Once these stages were completed and authorised, the Accord Group web site was constructed followed by a rapid roll-out to participant business units using a variation of this initial design.

The content management system, developed internally by IS Solutions staff, provided a performant entry-level solution with scalability provided through a defined migration path.  The system allows users with no specific web development skills to quickly and easily submit content for publishing and make amendments to existing pieces of content.  It also enables several authorisation levels and content “states” for flexible handling of content prior to and after publication.

Training was provided to Accord Group staff and they subsequently passed their knowledge on to business unit colleagues.  Likewise, support is provided in the first instance by Group staff while IS Solutions continues to provide assistance through its helpdesk facility for any issues that require further investigation.

The site details the vast range of services provided by Accord to both public and private sector organisations.

The site design has been rolled out to all 15 business units as well as the Group site at www.accordplc.com.  The business unit sites currently online are at:

• Isis Accord – www.isisaccord.com
• Minerva Accord – www.minervaaccord.com
• TFE Accord – www.tfeaccord.com

The key component in the site infrastructure is WebDirector, a content management system based on a Microsoft platform and developed using ASP, XML and XSLT.  The Accord site continues to be developed, hosted and managed by IS Solutions and the partnership between the two companies is now in its fourth year.

In addition to the implementation of WebDirector, this project involved skills from across IS Solutions range of disciplines:

·         Consultancy skills in defining and documenting precise requirements at the outset of the project.

·         Creative designers in the provision of an attractive and functional interface for the site.

·         Development resources in setup and configuration of the content management system according to the specific needs of the client.

·         Project management.

·         Support for any ongoing issues as they arise.

Future site developments

Accord’s intention is to grow the site with the expansion of the Group’s business into different operating areas and market sectors.  Each business unit is encouraged to provide a site to reflect their operations and is supported in this process by colleagues within the Group.  In addition, the Group will look to provide online added value services to key stakeholders including investor relations services for shareholders, extranet services for clients and partners and enhanced intranet facilities for employees across the company.

More about Accord

Accord is a leading provider of support services to the public and private sectors in the UK.  The Group comprises a number of client-focused business units that deliver modern, cost-effective services to central and local government authorities and commercial clients throughout the country.  These services include:

• Highways management and maintenance.
• Environmental services.
• Transportation and vehicle management.
• Property services.
• Facilities management and business services

Resourced fully at a local level, individual business units are supported by specialist teams at the Accord Group centre in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, UK.  Formed in 1994, Accord has annual revenues of over £240 million ($420 million).