The West Yorkshire Combined Authority has kicked off a project to unite all its existing websites in a single new online home.

The authority, which was founded in 2014, has issued a contract notice looking for a supplier to help design, build, and support a platform that will unite its six current sites into one online platform. This includes the authority’s main site, as well as sites for the West Yorkshire Metro public transport network, the MCard travelcard, and the CityConnect programme to build cyclepaths and encourage cycling in the area. The website-unification programme also covers the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership website, and the Invest in Leeds City Region site.
Earlier this year the sextet of sites were moved onto a new content-management system from vendor Umbraco. The open-source platform is hosted on Microsoft Azure cloud.

West Yorkshire is now looking for a supplier – who must have experience hosting websites in Azure environments and possess an Umbraco Gold Partner accreditation – to work on the design and construction of the new site. The development process is expected to take six to nine weeks and, once the website has been built, the chosen supplier will be expected to provide ongoing support for up to two years. 

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The site will require a homepage, and templates for landing pages, content pages, blogs, and news. It will also need to “integrate with Google Analytics, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, and social media”, and must be able to withstand big spikes in traffic, such as during periods of bad weather, when West Yorkshire claims that it typically experiences “the equivalent of a normal month’s usage in a short period”.

The project, which is currently in the discovery phase, will see the chosen supplier work with employees from the authority’s communications, business systems, and technical services teams. A document published by the authority in December revealed that about £300,000 has been set aside for the work. 

Bids are open until 19 April via the government’s Digital Marketplace.

Five local councils are constituent members of the the West Yorkshire Combined Authority: Bradford City Council; Leeds City Council; and the respective metropolitan borough councils representing Wakefield, Kirklees, and Calderdale. York City Council and the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership are non-constituent members.