A huge website on a tight schedule

More than 100 pages of content reviewed – giving them the perfect platform to build on after launch. Quicker that you can say ‘tickets please’.

A dash to the station

Avanti West Coast was taking over the West Coast Main Line after 20 years of Virgin Trains running the franchise. With a website already in development and the handover date approaching, Avanti West Coast needed all their website copy signed-off in just nine weeks. No small task when that meant reworking more than 180 pages.

Getting the band back together

We know our way around train line copy – we previously worked with our agency friends Altcom on the East Midlands Railway website. 

This was a high-stakes project with a short timeline. We needed a process to draft, edit and review large volumes of content at near-impossible pace. So that’s what we created.

We delivered content in batches to ease the burden on those uploading it all, collaborated through Google Docs to avoid snags in the feedback process, and used a mammoth spreadsheet to tick off the SEO considerations for every single page. 

All aboard!

We probably don’t need to tell you that Virgin is one of the most widely recognised brands on the planet. The new site had to deliver a seamless continuation of Virgin’s service, while also introducing the Avanti West Coast brand. No pressure then.

We replaced Virgin’s sass with Avanti’s welcoming warmth, while making sure the customer journey wouldn’t be jarring for those familiar with the old website. Clarity was key.

The result is a site that’s easy for users to navigate – whether they’re looking to buy tickets, check train times or get trip inspiration. And Avanti West Coast made the right first impression with the British public. 

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