From left to right: Bill Grisdale, Liz Herbert, Colin Harris, Jane Mann and Dudley George.

Colin Harris Website Development, has been appointed by BailiffgateMuseum in Alnwick to create a new museum website to replace the existing site www.bailiffgatemuseum.co.uk.

Following a £308,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), the Bailiffgate website revamp is part of the museum’s Heritage at the Heart of the Community project. This exciting project includes a major refurbishment of the museum itself and an outreach programme, which will involve local communities in exploring, preserving and celebrating their heritage in a range of interesting and engaging ways.

Colin Harris Website Development will build a new content management system to support the website and make access easier and more enjoyable from hand-held devices and tablets, as well as from normal PCs.

Colin Harris, founder of the company, said: “Our objective is to help attract many more visitors and sponsors to the museum. We will do so by making the website more attractive and easier to navigate as well as adding an easy to use “E-commerce” system, so the museum can develop online sales. We will construct the website using our extensive knowledge of  web users and their habits , and make the website easier for search engines to find.”

BailiffgateMuseum is an award winning independent museum in the centre of Alnwick, run by a dedicated team of volunteers and Trustees, which celebrates the colourful, rich and resilient past, and aims to connect communities and visitors with the heritage of Alnwick and the surrounding district. In addition to the permanent collection, there is a programme of exhibitions in the upstairs gallery throughout the year. The museum also has a programme of arts and crafts activities.

Jane Mann a trustee of the museum said: “The past year has been very exciting for the museum after being awarded a major HLF grant for our Heritage at the Heart of the Community Project and winning the award for outstanding achievement by a volunteer led museum at the North East Museum Awards.  The website is extremely important for our marketing, and will be used to promote the many interesting things we have to offer. We will incorporate much more information into our website, adding for example an online gallery of the museum’s huge photo collection. A better website will help us connect with visitors and prospective visitors from all over the world, as well as help strengthen our contact with local communities”.

“Colin Harris Website Development won the tender because of their reputation for turning ideas into quality websites; we look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with the company.”

By Colin Harris