We create outstanding stuff for the web. Simple.
Whether it's elegant & accessible design, flash animation, content management or e-commerce, we've got it covered - and the awards to prove it. We've worked on some of the web's finest over the years, and now we're bringing all that expertise together into one great place...
...Welcome to Engage.
03. selected work
02. latest from the blog | view all
- Weekly round-up #6
- Friday really snuck up on us this week, but don't panic, we've still collected a bunch of nice 'n' shiny links and videos for you to have a look at and be amazed! jPlayer This snazzy little pl...
- Weekly round-up #5
- We've started a few new projects this week and also been looking at some new offices (exciting times!) so it's been heads down while we've been breaking the back of things. We've also been working...
- From the lab: Last.FM for jQuery
- To celebrate the opening of our brand new labs section we thought we'd share with you our little widget to display your Last.FM tracks on your website using jQuery. Last.FM has a very extensive...
Engage Interactive was born on a very cold day back in 2007. We remember it was very cold because the heating didn't work in the office and our fingers turned a weird blue colour. Anyway, we digress...
Our ethos is simple - to make things for the web and make them really really well. It's quality not quantity here, which basically means every project we work on is designed, built and then polished to perfection.
We also like to think we're a friendly bunch too, which just makes everything run that little bit smoother!
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“Being Technical Director brings much responsibility. The stress that can be caused when the kettle breaks can be almost overwhelming at times...”
Dave Wrightson
Technical Director
Luckily I get to spend most of the day developing websites, content management and eCommerce systems. I've been doing this for about 10 years now, serving an apprenticeship in the large corporate world of Sky, before running another Harrogate agency and finally setting up Engage, where we can take the best of everything we've learned and condense it into a small but beautifully formed package.
In short, once Alex has finished colouring things in, I then make it work.
“Found under a gooseberry bush cradling a mouse and a copy of Photoshop, some thought my destiny already determined. I think I now have to admit they were right...”
Alex Willcocks
Creative Director
Some might use this space to wax lyrical about how creativity courses like an untamed river through their veins or that they only eat paint. I'll keep it a bit more down to earth. I love designing and building things for the web and have been fortunate enough to do this for some fantastic clients over the years whilst working for various agencies in the North.
Forming Engage has been an extremely exciting venture for me thus far and it's definitely refreshing to see how far good old passion, credibility and work ethic can still get you. Obviously it's early days, but we have some exciting plans up our rather large sleeves so watch this space!
In short, I colour things in and then Dave makes them work.
“I was hired for my Design, CSS & HTML, Javascript and Flash skills… No one ever mentioned washing up mugs or teaspoons!”
Will Blackmore
Senior web designer
One of the best aspects of this job is creating a website using all the latest technologies, combining them together in a way that your average internet user will not even notice but someone in the industry will say: “How did you do that?”
So when I'm not washing up I can usually be found engrossed in some highly complex HTML or CSS bringing a design to realisation. Add some flash or javascript into the mix and after a few hundred lines and countless functions later you'll find the bounciest, slidyest and ajax-y-est website ever created. All without looking like every other bouncy slidy website on the net.
In short, I do a bit of everything and then make it bouncy!
Despite our computers being packed with gorgeous websites, fancy animations, incriminating photos and more, we've only chosen to feature a few select projects at any time because you can't have too many favourites - that's just greedy!
Please get in touch if you want us to create you a brand new favourite.
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Straight from the horses client's mouth...
Dave, Alex and the guys at Engage always deliver. Having worked with them over a number of years I would have no hesitation in recommending them to anyone who wants an agency that always goes that extra little bit further. The Propaganda site was developed in double-quick time but is robust and flexible enough to serve our needs for years to come.
Darren Navier | Creative director
www.propaganda.co.uk
Pick a project
Recognition
At The Races | www.attheraces.com
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"We chose to work with Engage as their experience with sports and blue-chip sites speaks for itself. We're delighted with how the relationship has developed; their ability to understand our requirements has been key to meeting some incredibly tight deadlines and the proactive approach Dave and Alex take has helped us exceed our initial ambitions."
Matthew Taylor | Head of Online
www.attheraces.com
- Client: At The races
- Sector: Commercial, media
- Delivered: Design, Build, Javascript
At The Races is a TV Channel partly owned by Sky, and shown on their network. They wanted a redesign to freshen up the site, add new features and create more commercial opportunities.
We produced all of the design and HTML/Javascript build, before handing it over to the Sky team in Harrogate for development. This was a very complex project, essentially working for two clients and producing work that had to balance the various design, content, accessibility and commercial requirements.
Propaganda | www.propaganda.co.uk
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"Dave, Alex and the guys at Engage always deliver. Having worked with them over a number of years I would have no hesitation in recommending them to anyone who wants an agency that always goes that extra little bit further. The Propaganda site was developed in double-quick time but is robust and flexible enough to serve our needs for years to come."
Darren Navier | Creative director
www.propaganda.co.uk
- Client: Propaganda
- Sector: Creative, Advertising
- Delivered: Build, CMS, Flash
Marketing themselves as a new style of strategic and creative agency, Propaganda seem to be doing something right judging from their client list and impressive portfolio. We helped them shout this success from the rooftops by delivering them a megaphone... oh, and also threw in brand new site build and content management system through which they can do a whole load of fancy things.
Steenbergs Organic | www.steenbergs.co.uk
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"We've been working with the guys from Engage for many years since we launched our first website and have been stunned by just how much more we can do and offer with the new website, the back end works well and the whole website has been totally refreshed. We’re all very excited about the possibilities and it has been well received by customers."
Sophie Steenberg | Director
www.steenbergs.co.uk
- Client: Steenbergs
- Sector: Food & Drink
- Delivered: Design, Build, CMS, E-Commerce
Our latest E-Commerce site truely reflects the Steenbergs brand values - a company that prides itself on its fairtrade and green credentials. Along with our fancy-pants custom CMS the site also boasts a 'suggest' style search box that allows customers to get straight to the products they are interested in, and a recipes section to allow searchable ingredients Other features include an all new members area that allows customers to quickly re-order past products all from one page.
STRADA | www.strada.co.uk
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"Engage Interactive instinctively understood how to translate the STRADA brand values to the web to produce a site with a highly distinctive look and feel. Alex, Dave and Will have a huge amount of experience in designed and building things for the web which makes working with them an enjoyable and stress-free experience. Most importantly, they bought the site in on time and budget."
Sean Pound | Marketing Manager
www.strada.co.uk
- Client: STRADA
- Sector: Hospitality
- Delivered: Ecommerce, CMS, Build, Flash
You may have read that we recently welcomed STRADA on board as our latest client. Since then we’ve been hard at working creating them a wonderful new website full of all the fancy bits ‘n’ bobs and attention to detail you’ve hopefully come to expect from us.
Their new site contains all the functionality you'd expect from a restaurant site, along with a few extra bits you probably wouldn`t - but we're sure you'll love it all. Why not give the tasty theme changer a whirl?
Belgo | www.belgo-restaurants.co.uk
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- Client: Belgo restaurants
- Sector: Hospitality
- Delivered: Design, Build, Flash, CMS, Marketing
Featuring Belgo Bill, singing lobsters and even Jean Claude Van Damme - Belgo is probably one of the weirdest sites we’ve worked on! The site tone aims to convey the quirky nature of the brand, whilst the functionality remains strictly usable - allowing visitors to book online, find their nearest Belgo and view all the menus that are on offer. We had some great fun dreaming up and animating all the python-esque characters you’ll find scattered through the site - adding the finishing touches to a piece which we hope really engages the visitor and is a true extension of the brand itself - but I guess you’ll have to be the judge of that one.
Kobe Bar & Restaurant | www.arcinspirations.com/kobe
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- Client: Arc Inspirations
- Sector: Hospitality
- Delivered: Design, Build, CMS
Part of the Arc Inspirations group, Kobe Bar & Restaurant is the newest addition to the Horsforth bar scene. The site boasts a fully content managed gallery and news section, so it's always up to date with the latest news and offers. Since it's launch the site has won various design awards and is to date the most popular website in the Arc Inspiration's chain.
Arc Inspirations | www.arcinspirations.com
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- Client: Arc Inspirations
- Sector: Hospitality
- Delivered: Design, Build, CMS, Flash
Arc Inspirations run a number of highly successful bars in the North of England and also have a number of highly popular websites to go with them thanks to the work we've done for them over the last few years.
With each bar unique in it's style and atmosphere each website was also required to follow a similar approach which has resulted in a lovely mix of flavours. A bit like a bag of Haribo.
Expose Productions | www.expose-productions.co.uk
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- Client: Expose Productions
- Sector: Advertising
- Delivered: Design, Build
Being a production company, Expose have a lot of video reels and photography they want to showcase, but they were really against a simple gallery website - wanting to create a degree of exploration and the unknown.
We've achieved this by limiting the amount of content that is initially visible, forcing the visitor to delve deeper into the website to uncover all the gems within. Of course, for those people in a rush a quick navigation is always at hand to take you straight to where you want to go.
MOJO Bar | www.mojobar.co.uk
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"Engage Interactive were just what we were looking for. No one size fits all templates here. An imaginative and innovative company who were committed to giving us what we asked for and then some things we'd never have even thought of. True professionals with a distinct flair for what they do."
Martin Greenhow | Director
www.mojobar.co.uk
- Client: MOJO Bar
- Sector: Bar & restaurant
- Delivered: Flash, E-Commerce, Social networking
Whether you fancy pouring over the latest musings on the blog, getting involved in some music reviews or even meeting other great folk in the rapidly expanding MOJO family - it's all just a click away on the brand new MOJO website, so what are you waiting for? Have fun!
Wondering what we can do? Here you go...
Web design
Perhaps it's stating the obvious, but it always amazes us how many 'web design' companies don't really know much about the web or design. At Engage cutting corners isn`t in our nature, and it's what drives us - with our emphasis on attention to detail and work ethic you always know that a site that comes from our studio will be done right and look great.
Flash games
Since cavemen walked the earth people have enjoyed a good old bit of competition. In this modern day - instead of bashing each other over the head with clubs - flash games have increasingly started to separate the weak from the strong. We pride ourselves in making our games not only visually stunning but addictive, intuitive and most importantly brilliantly fun!
E-commerce
Selling your goods and services online can be a daunting prospect. We aim to take the stress out of as much of it as we can by guiding you through the process and building a site that fits the way you work, rather than the other way around.....and we'll make it look damn pretty too!
Flash animation
If you ever wanted to introduce your brand, announce a new product, celebrate a holiday season or simply add some sparkly bits to your website there is no better way than a bit of tightly integrated flash animation, especially when it's been lovingly crafted by us.
White label services
Sometimes there just aren`t enough hours in the day, but we can help those days last a little bit longer so you can get the job done and keep those clients smiling. We're comfortable working as a white label partner on any type of project and have worked with some of the industries largest agencies with some great results.
Content Management
The holy grail - you want to be able to update your own site but don't want to have to keep paying us to do it. Well, no offence, but we don't get much satisfaction from it either, so many of our sites are developed with content management facilities, meaning you get to control all of your website content whilst we just make it look good.
E-marketing
After a quick bit of maths, we reckon we've successfully designed, delivered and tracked over 10,000,000 successful e-mails in our time (sounds big when you write it down eh?) and have even rolled out our own E-marketing suite, broadkast which has been a huge success with everyone we've shown it too.
iPhone development
We were the first to create an iPhone site with Orientation Specific Content, and we continue to be leaders in the area of website development for the iPhone. So, if you want to be part of the new mobile generation and compliment your site with an iPhone alternative then just drop us a line
Just some of the people we've worked with
Drop us an e-mail
Ring us or mail stuff
- t: +44 (0)1423 873888
- f: +44 (0)1423 873999
- e:
Hammerain House
Hookstone Ave
Harrogate
HG2 8ER
Got talent?
Though we're not actively recruiting at the moment, if the right person comes along we can always bend the rules a 'little' bit. So, if you think you'd be a good addition to our team, or freelance and think we may be able to use your skills from time to time, why not drop us an e-mail it over to with a little bit more info or a C.V.