2 August 2002
Extending a very successful year in 2001, Imaginet , the Cardiff based total solutions web agency, has won two awards at the recent ICT Cymru 2002 awards.
Both designed and developed by Imaginet, Wales Holidays and Wales Direct were the only companies short-listed for the Best Use of ICT in Business Award. This category aimed to acknowledge the best use of ICT in selling in a b2b, b2c or b2g context or use in an Operational context that led to business process improvement.
Obviously delighted by the two wins, Nigel Roberts, Managing Director commented:
"These awards prove that Imaginet's skills, experience and enthusiasm in developing e-business solutions are second to none. We have a strong team of like-minded people at Imaginet and it is their hard work and dedication that has secured our place in the ICT Awards 2002."
Wales Holidays, one of the largest independent cottage holiday agencies in the UK, took the first prize in the category. In existence for over 20 years, Wales Holidays developed a website with Imaginet in 1999 to take advantage of the growing Internet usage in the UK and Europe. Encouraging people to take a holiday in Wales, the site aims to sell cottage holidays to UK and Worldwide based holidaymakers. The company is also committed to increasing the number of visitors to Wales off-season and the contribution that tourism already makes to the Welsh rural economy.
During 2000 and 2001, the site has seen substantial changes to improve its functionality, design and, most importantly, to increase sales. It was this commitment to ICT that helped Wales Holidays win the award.
Julian Burrell, Managing Director of Wales Holidays commented:
"Before the development of the Wales Holidays website, the company generated all enquiries through extensive off-line marketing in national newspapers and publications. Through ICT, Wales Holidays is now able to gain a large number of leads without a huge expense via the use of our website."
Proving that ICT has worked for Wales Holidays, bookings via the website for 2000 equalled 1401 compared to 1647 for 2001. This showed an increase of at least 15%, as the sales for the company as a whole was down by 13% due to the foot & mouth epidemic.
Mr Burrell added:
"We’re very pleased to confirm that the total value of bookings on-line equated to over a million pounds in sales during 2001 and we’re set to exceed that dramatically during 2002."
Wales Direct is Wales' premier on-line shop selling Welsh goods to an International audience and is owned and developed by Imaginet. Highly commended for the same award, the site was re-launched in 2001 with improved functionality and a new design. Targeting ex-patriates, tourists and people living in Wales, Wales Direct aims to extend the reach of suppliers selling Welsh products and function at a profit.
Nigel Roberts, Wales Direct and Imaginet's Managing Director, said:
"From experience, we know that the Internet is one of the best methods of reaching and selling to an International audience, whilst the cost savings of a virtual shop would enable us to make a profit in the early years. We also use on-line marketing as the main tactic for driving traffic to the site, which fits in perfectly with the company's strategy of using ICT effectively to move forward."
Wales Direct has successfully used the web during 2001 to increase the average number of unique visitors, registered users and profit margins, and like Wales Holidays; this is a trend set to continue during 2002.
