When a business with more than 250 years of heritage and an international reputation for engineering excellence needs a new website, the brief is about much more than creating something that looks good.
That’s exactly the challenge our team at Bubble was delighted to take on when we were appointed to deliver a complete website redesign and redevelopment for Sheffield Forgemasters, one of the UK’s most recognised heavy engineering businesses.
Following a successful competitive tender process, our web design, web development and content teams came together to create a modern, engaging digital platform that would showcase the company’s incredible history, technical expertise and future ambitions.
From a complete overhaul of the website’s structure and user experience to bespoke recruitment API integration and comprehensive SEO-focused content creation, this was a project that brought together the full breadth of Bubble’s digital capabilities.
An Ambitious Brief for an Iconic British Business
Established in 1776, Sheffield Forgemasters has played a significant role in British engineering for generations, producing some of the world’s largest and most technically challenging steel forgings and castings.
Today, the company supports critical industries including defence, civil nuclear, offshore energy, renewables and advanced manufacturing. With a £1.3 billion investment programme supporting its future, Sheffield Forgemasters needed a website that reflected both its remarkable heritage and its ambitions for continued innovation and growth.
The existing website no longer fully represented the scale and capabilities of the business, and there was an opportunity to improve how different audiences discovered and engaged with its services.
The new website needed to achieve several important objectives: provide clearer navigation through a complex technical offering, improve the experience for customers and stakeholders, strengthen organic search visibility, and create a more engaging platform for prospective employees.
Recruitment was a particularly important element of the brief, with Sheffield Forgemasters looking to showcase its career opportunities, apprenticeship programmes and employee benefits while integrating its existing recruitment systems.
The challenge was to bring all these requirements together into one cohesive, easy-to-navigate digital experience.
Winning the Competitive Tender
Sheffield Forgemasters undertook a competitive tender process to appoint a digital agency capable of delivering the project.
Our proposal needed to demonstrate not only our creative approach to website design, but also our technical development expertise, understanding of user experience, approach to content and SEO, and ability to deliver a complex project collaboratively.
As an established, full-service design and marketing agency, Bubble was well placed to offer a complete solution, bringing together specialist teams across web design, web development and web copywriting.
Following the tender process, we were delighted to be awarded the project, marking the beginning of an exciting relationship with Sheffield Forgemasters.
“We were genuinely excited by the opportunity to work with such an iconic British business. From our initial conversations and onboarding, it felt like a natural fit for Bubble, with the project bringing together the expertise of our web design, development and content teams. Winning the tender was a proud moment for everyone involved, and it’s been fantastic to see the relationship continue to grow.”
Chris Peacock, Managing Director
Creating a Website Built Around Its Audiences
A project of this scale requires careful planning, particularly when the website needs to serve several distinct audiences with different objectives.
Our team worked closely with Sheffield Forgemasters to review the existing website, understand the requirements and develop a comprehensive sitemap and user journeys.
The new structure was organised around several key areas of the business, including Company, What We Do, Industries, Innovation, Resource Hub and Careers Hub.
Dedicated pages were developed to showcase individual engineering capabilities, including forging, casting, machining, heat treatment, testing and preliminary design. Alongside these, sector-specific content helps visitors understand how Sheffield Forgemasters supports different industries and applications.
The aim was to make a complex technical offering easier to explore, while providing clear pathways for potential customers to enquire about the company’s capabilities.
Our web design team then brought the structure to life through wireframes and a refreshed visual approach, combining impactful industrial photography, contemporary layouts, strong typography and intuitive navigation.
The result is a distinctive website that celebrates the scale of Sheffield Forgemasters’ operations while delivering a consistent, responsive experience across desktop, tablet and mobile devices.
Communicating Complex Engineering Through SEO-Focused Content
With such an extensive technical offering, content creation was another significant part of the project.
Our dedicated content writing team was responsible for producing the website copy, working to communicate highly specialised engineering capabilities in a way that was clear, engaging and accessible to different audiences.
This involved developing content across the main website sections, including company information, technical capabilities, sector landing pages and careers-related content.
An important consideration was ensuring that the content supported both the user experience and Sheffield Forgemasters’ organic search objectives.
By creating dedicated, relevant content for individual services and sectors, we could help establish a clearer website structure for search engines while making it easier for visitors to find the information they needed.
Throughout the process, our designers, developers and content specialists worked together to ensure that the copy, page layouts, navigation and calls to action complemented each other.
It’s an approach that reflects one of Bubble’s key strengths: having the expertise to manage every stage of a website project under one roof.
A Dedicated Careers Hub With Bespoke API Integration
One of the most technically important elements of the redevelopment was the creation of a dedicated Careers Hub.
Sheffield Forgemasters recognised the need to attract new talent and provide a more engaging recruitment experience, particularly for apprentices, graduates and those considering a career in engineering.
The Careers Hub was developed to bring together information about working at Sheffield Forgemasters, employee benefits, career development, training, diversity and inclusion, apprenticeships and current opportunities.
However, the project required more than simply creating new pages.
Our web development team undertook bespoke API development to integrate Sheffield Forgemasters’ existing recruitment platform, connecting the website’s careers experience with the established vacancy and application process.
This allows visitors to explore relevant opportunities through the main Sheffield Forgemasters website before progressing into the recruitment system.
The custom integration was a particularly important part of the project, demonstrating our team’s ability to deliver functionality beyond a standard brochure-style website.
Combined with the dedicated careers content and improved navigation, the result is a more connected digital recruitment experience designed to support Sheffield Forgemasters’ ongoing talent acquisition requirements.
Flexible WordPress Development for Long-Term Growth
Alongside the bespoke functionality, our development team built the new website using WordPress, providing Sheffield Forgemasters with a flexible content management system.
The website was developed to support ongoing content updates, allowing the business to continue sharing company news, industry developments, career opportunities and project information.
With dedicated areas for news, events, case studies and downloadable resources, the platform provides a foundation for future marketing and communications activity.
Our web development team also ensured that responsive design, usability and the integration of the different website components remained central to the build.
More Than a Website: Building a Long-Term Partnership
The successful launch of the new Sheffield Forgemasters website was a fantastic achievement for everyone involved.
The new website brings together the company’s remarkable heritage, specialist engineering capabilities, industries and career opportunities within a modern digital experience.
For Bubble, however, one of the most rewarding outcomes has been the relationship we’ve built with the Sheffield Forgemasters team.
Following their positive experience throughout the project, we’ve since been appointed to provide ongoing design and marketing support, extending our relationship beyond the initial website redesign and redevelopment.
It’s something we’re particularly proud of, and it reflects the approach we take with all our clients.
We don’t simply design and develop websites and walk away. We aim to become an extension of our clients’ teams, providing ongoing expertise, creative thinking and digital support to help them achieve their wider business objectives.
“I’m not great at gardening, but it was for a really good cause and when I got there I really enjoyed it. It was also nice getting to know Bluebell Hospice, their ethos and what drives them to help those in need. We had a great tour around the place. Kelly was very helpful, as were the regular garden volunteers there. We also got to know some of the wider staff.
A children’s hospice is something that hit me a bit, as I was seriously ill when I was 14/15, and got help from various Children’s charities/hospices. So once I got to know the company and what they did, I wanted to help more.”
Matt, Web Designer, Sheffield Forgemasters
Looking for a Web Design and Development Partner?
Whether you’re planning a complete website redesign, need bespoke functionality or integrations, or are looking for a digital agency that can support your ongoing marketing activity, Bubble has the experience and expertise to help.
With dedicated specialists across web design, web development, web copywriting, SEO and digital marketing, we can manage your entire website project from initial strategy and design through to development, launch and ongoing support.
Ready to discuss your next website project? Get in touch with Bubble and let’s talk about how we can help your business grow.
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