The UKFast Internet Awards 2006

Welcome to the Internet Awards 2006. Find out who made it by clicking on the links below.

Award Categories:

• Best Web Design
• Best Web Functionality
• Best Community Site
• Best E-commerce Site under £5m turnover
• Best E-commerce Site over £5m turnover
• Internet Innovator

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Best Web Design:

Winner - Insight Studios for www.insightstudios.co.uk Insight Studios believe that a visitor judges a company within the first three seconds of logging on to its website. With this in mind, they design sites that are clear, easy-to-use and visually stunning. Relatively new to the business, they impressed our judges with their ability to practise what they preach.

Lawrence Jones headed the judging panel: "Insight Studio's is a contemporary looking site with meticulous graphics and a page to page consistency that feels effortlessly achieved. It reminded the panel of the Macromedia site, but in contrast to such big players, Insight are based in the Pembrokeshire countryside, proving that you don't have to be 'in the thick of it' to compete with the best."

Runner Up - Staffordshire Website Company for www.hensteethcards.com Staffordshire Website Company brilliantly conveys the style and originality of its client with the Hens Teeth Cards site. The vibrant, cartoony nature of the design allows the visitor to excuse small navigational inconsistencies. The power of the brand even prompted a number of our panel to buy Hens Teeth Cards from the high street this Christmas - proving that the site makes a great impression.

Commended A design that we feel deserves a mention is the new site designed in-house for Birmingham Museums (www.bmag.org.uk). Back to top

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Best Web Functionality:

Winner - Intellisoft for www.intellisoft.co.uk + www.recruitment-software.co.uk The fluidity of both sites means that wherever you are you're no more than a couple of clicks from anywhere else. Clear, concise and fast, they render without any inconsistency in the top three browsers.

As a veteran designer Steve Logan is modest about the Intellisoft site, believing that after 3 years it's time for a change - but we say don't fix what ain't broke! We love it. And with clients as diverse as BBC Radio Lancashire, Vivienne Westwood and The University of Salford there's no doubt that its appeal is universal.

Runner Up - ClickingMad for www.youthactionnetwork.org.uk Originally in the pot for Best Community site, we immediately spotted this little gem's functional potential. The site has a simple design and keeps a very clean consistency from one page to another. The drill down nature reveals a multitude of useful information, whilst the left navigation ensures you'll never get lost.

Commended Software developer CRL for the inventive online survey generator and statistics subdomain http://vision.crl.uk.com Back to top

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Best Community Site:

Winner - Amanda Christie and Sarah Beeny for www.mysinglefriend.com In a mere 3 months, the team at MSF have maximised their marketing potential to spread the word across the nation about their dating website. But getting people there is only the starting point. Testament to the quality of the site is a total of more than 12,000 fully signed up members who all begin paying fees as of February '06.

The panel felt MSF had a very healthy future. "The site starts 2006 as a vibrant community and with a unique concept that embroils not only the 'Single', but their best friends. This is an interactive community set to grow and grow. It's definitely one to keep your eye on - particularly if you're single."

Runner Up - Blue Rabbit for www.ourkidsports.com A team of three tirelessly work in their spare time to create and maintain this fantastic resource for youth sports. The site allows youth teams to upload their fixtures, results, team news and much more. Sports on the site are as varied as Rugby and Martial Arts, which means it is more an eclectic collection of communities than a single unit.

Ourkidsports is like nothing else on the Web in the UK and with the team looking to take the site to a whole new level of development this year we can't wait to see the results.

Commended A special mention must be given to Children in Scotland for a fantastic nationwide project that is represented online at www.childreninscotland.org.uk Back to top

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Best E-Commerce Site under £5m turnover:

Winner - Go Travelling for www.onthegotours.com Aptly, Jay Lakshman has created a site with a comfortable worldly feel. Onthegotours is not a cheap flights vendor, nor is it competing in the dynamic packaging market. They are hooking the adventurous traveller and coaxing them into an unwritten contract with the site.

"Its engaging design, abundance of well written copy and straightforward purchasing process, could sell tours to tour operators," said Lawrence Jones. "The IT team at Go Travelling have employed a healthy encryption to the secure areas and the purchasing process is detailed, without being complicated so as to give confidence to the most cynical first time e-spender."

Commended Again Insight Studios appear on the 2005 honours list, this time with an excellent dual language site - www.ysbryd.co.uk

Best E-Commerce Site over £5m turnover:

Winner - CRM for www.printerland.co.uk This site is most certainly in the right place at the right time. With e-commerce very much an established part of consumer spending, savvy online buyers have realised that if you want to buy a brand, it's not always best to buy from that brand's own website. Printerland's stock of established brands such as Brother, Epsom and HP is practically falling off the e-shelves.
Printerland is vying for position in a market place that includes not only the brands themselves but trusted electrical retailers, Despite this, business has never been better. So that's one up for specialist product websites."

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Internet Innovator:

Winner - Dubit for SKY Interactive www.dubit.co.uk Dubit is a young company - not in experience, but in average age of its employees. But this is of huge benefit. In business terms Dubit is steeped in knowledge of its field. The teens and tweens sector of society (13-24) is the Holy Grail for retail firms and Dubit has placed itself as the premiere youth communications agency in the UK. 5 years of research into the market has led to their alliance with SKY and consequently UKFast.

Through its portal (www.dubit.co.uk) Dubit has built up a youth community, where visitors can, earn rewards for filling in questionnaires, give their opinions on topical issues, join in 3D chat, play games and blog. Dubit's pay off for creating this environment comes from the retail firms that submit questionnaires and special offers. Dubit has recreated elements of this environment for SKY Interactive and is currently in talks with the BBC and numerous American media organisations for future projects.

Runner Up - Padtech for Schedule 3 - www.padtech.co.uk Padtech is another great example of an application server client. Schedule-3 downloads onto your PC and uses the server to maintain a live link to the application so that information can be updated across calendars when necessary.

For organising a medium sized office environment it is near perfect. And it works equally as well for a mechanic running a busy Garage or a Manager organising a doctor's surgery. The flexibility of the solution was the deal breaker for the panel, who are excited to see what other innovations will come from Philip Dunlop's Padtech.

With the client list increasing steadily every month, there are loads of innovators to look out for in 2007. Our technical team have cited Ed Moore of Moore Innovations as one to look out for in this years awards, which will be opening submissions in June. Back to top

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If you'd like any more information regarding the UKFast Network Awards please contact Jonathan Bowers.