What makes us unique is that we don't do art and we don't employ graphics designers. We're experts on developing business using the web. What interests us are the elements your site needs to be a success and the technology that will power that success. We won't just get you up and running, we'll stay with you and help you keep ahead as the web offers new opportunities.

Don't get us wrong, design is important for many websites but our colleagues at Scamper do that leaving us to stay focused on what matters to your investment.

I come from a civil engineering background where engineers and architects balance aesthetic needs against business limitations such as time & cost by bickering like children. For the outsider it probably looks a little bizarre and pointless but if you're a client this separation of interests is a very healthy way of getting the most out of things that are difficult to put a value against.

We've tried to apply similar principles to web development separating business need from aesthetics by passing visual design to Scamper. Fortunately Scamper and ourselves understand each other so we don't argue that often. In fact there are many good engineer/architect relationships that work the same way.

The more I come across web development by other companies the more I'm convinced this is the correct approach. When I'm not with clients I occasionally find myself working from coffee shops in the trendy Soho area of London where there's a concentration of high profile web developers. They seem to use coffee shops a lot for meeting clients and I frequently hear accounts managers justifying expensive features they've included on a website. All too often, it seems to me, the features are there more for the designer's own portfolio of cool than to satisfy any direct business need but clients can't be expected to know that and there's no-one else in the equation to balance it.

Steve Creedon