Between 2019 and 2020, I worked with Leicester Civic Society on two connected but very different heritage website builds: their main organisational site and the Greyfriars Townscape Heritage Initiative project site.
Some website projects are neat and tidy, whereas others are layered, content-heavy, and come with a long list of practical constraints. This one was very much the latter, and it’s exactly the sort of work I enjoy.
Both sites needed to be robust, accessible, and practical. No bells and whistles for the sake of it, but a solid structure and a designer with insight into how real people would navigate them.
A record of Leicester’s heritage
Leicester Civic Society is a long-established organisation with a broad remit: heritage, planning, events, member communications, and public engagement. Their website needed to serve members and the wider public equally well, without becoming unwieldy or confusing.
At the same time, the Greyfriars Townscape Heritage Initiative required a separate, publicly funded project website with a contractual delivery deadline. This site needed to act as a permanent record of the project, housing a significant amount of content with no existing visual identity to work from.
Two sites. Different audiences. Shared pressures around budget, accessibility, and long-term sustainability.
What needed to be achieved
For the Leicester Civic Society website, the brief focused on functionality and continuity:
For the Greyfriars site, the emphasis was slightly different:
In both cases, the websites had to work across devices, be straightforward to maintain, and make sense to people who weren’t thinking about websites all day long.
The challenges behind the scenes
Like any project in the real world, there were a few complications that shaped how the work unfolded.
The Leicester Civic Society domain had been badly affected by SEO spam or “spamdexing”. This is when the search engine results for a website are taken over by spammy links pointing to completely unrelated overseas sites. Cleaning that up while protecting existing rankings required careful handling rather than brute force fixes.
The content volume was significant. Between the two projects, well over a hundred pages needed structuring, formatting, and sense-checking. This wasn’t a case of dropping text into templates and hoping for the best. It needed patience and consistency.
The Greyfriars project had no existing brand or visual language. Colours, typography, layout, and tone all had to be established in a way that respected the heritage context without feeling dusty or inaccessible.
Budget constraints meant there was no room for unnecessary complexity. Membership systems, payments, and event ticketing had to integrate with existing paper-based and spreadsheet workflows rather than replacing them wholesale.
This is the sort of work where experience matters. Not flashy tricks, just the ability to make sensible decisions when things get messy.
How the work was approached
Both sites were built in WordPress which was chosen for flexibility and longevity rather than novelty.
For Leicester Civic Society, the focus was on separating public and member content cleanly, setting up payment systems that worked alongside existing processes, and making sure the committee could confidently manage updates after handover. Training sessions were a key part of this, not an afterthought.
For GTHI, the process started with structure before visuals. Once the information architecture was in place, the design work could support the content rather than compete with it. Owned and stock imagery was used thoughtfully, and the visual system was kept consistent so the site could grow without losing coherence.
Security, backups, analytics, and legal compliance were baked in from the start. These aren’t glamorous elements, but they’re what keep websites usable and trustworthy over time.
The outcome
Ciaran at Davison & Brain played a key role in helping the Leicester Civic Society develop our current website several years ago and has managed and hosted our account ever since. Throughout this time, they have consistently provided prompt, expert support and guidance whenever needed.
Pricing has always been fair and transparent, with reductions offered in recognition of our status as a registered charity. Ciaran and her team are approachable, helpful, and always willing to go the extra mile to ensure client satisfaction. We would recommend Davison & Brain without hesitation.
Burt McNeill, Chair, Leicester Civic Society
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Both websites launched on schedule and met their respective objectives.
The Leicester Civic Society website supported members, events, and communications effectively, and continued to evolve over the following years. While the site has since been redesigned by a member of the Civic Society, I managed and hosted it for many years, providing ongoing support and improvements as needs changed.
The Greyfriars Townscape Heritage Initiative site remains live today, still serving as a clear and accessible record of the project. That longevity is one of the best indicators that the foundations were done properly.
Perhaps most importantly, the relationship didn’t end at launch. Between 2019 and 2025, I worked with Leicester Civic Society on multiple updates and improvements, responding to new requirements without disrupting what already worked.
Why this kind of project matters
Heritage and membership organisations often sit at the intersection of complexity and constraint. Lots of stakeholders, lots of content, limited budgets, and very little appetite for risk.
This project is a good example of how thoughtful website design, steady project management, and long-term support can make those constraints workable rather than stressful.
If you’re responsible for a content-heavy website, a membership organisation, or a project with moving parts and fixed deadlines, you don’t need gimmicks. You need someone who can think clearly, work methodically, and stay involved once the site is live.
That’s the work I do.
Planning a complex website project?
If you need a website that handles lots of content, multiple audiences, or moving parts without becoming a headache, let’s talk it through.
I work with organisations that value clear thinking, steady delivery, and long-term support, not quick fixes or flashy nonsense.
Book a call and we’ll explore what your website actually needs.
