Thanet District Council is on the hunt for an agency to redesign its website - less than four years after its in-house team oversaw a previous overhaul.

The Kent council, which serves some 140,000 residents, replaced its old website in 2013, choosing to build the new site entirely in-house with open source software. 

At the time, the council said the site was “easy to use and navigate and showcases Thanet beautifully”, with the current version making the site mobile responsive for the first time and organising around the most frequent queries received by the council.

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However, a fresh review has deemed the portal “no longer fit for purpose” and the council is now seeking an agency to design, build and support a new site.

“Findings from this review highlighted the problems users have with navigating the website and completing tasks online,” a contract notice for the latest redesign says.

“With the focus on channel shift and encouraging more users to self-serve via the website we are looking to appoint an agency to redesign and develop the website to meet our users needs.”

According to the contract notice, the chosen supplier will be required to deliver a “fully responsive” site, a content management system, and provide a “cloud hosted and website technical support service”.

The £50,000 contract is expected to kick off in October 2017, with a tight, three-month turnaround to have the site delivered by January of next year. 

The council says it will also expect the successful agency to provide hosting and support for two years following the launch.

Suppliers interested in bidding have until September 15 to get their pitches in.