PRESS RELEASE

Natoora, specialists in premium-quality fresh French, Italian and British food delivered next day to your door have appointed Smarter Communications as their full-service advertising agency in the UK and their sister agency, Leftfield Digital to re-launch their UK e-commerce operation.

Natoora supplies high-end trade customers (The River Cafe, Theo Randalls, Petersham Nurseries and a number of high-profile restaurants) as well as private customers in and around Central London.   Smarter are conducting research as part of a rebrand and strategic positioning exercise before launching a through the line communications campaign early in the new year.

The new website is scheduled to launch in October 2008 with an e-commerce platform linking into the back-end logistics operation and existing infrastructure in order to cater for the increasing number of deliveries. Natoora require a customised commerce solution to reflect the unique nature of their business, and the source availability of Elastic Path enables Leftfield to tailor and deliver a solution that meets these unique needs and provide competitive advantage.

Franco Fubini, UK MD of Natoora said “We appointed Smarter and Leftfield because they didn’t immediately lead us into an advertising solution.  They are working with us to understand our trade and private audiences and to help us arrive at a competitive and sustainable positioning for the brand going forward”. Graham Hawkey-Smith, Strategic Planning Director at Smarter said “Natoora needs to stop competing with mass-market supermarket delivery services like Ocado and Tesco. Their trade and private customers demand restaurant-quality ingredients backed up with the highest possible levels of personal service.  Natoora enables you to re-create the best restaurant-quality dining at home - which completely re-defines their marketing strategy”.

Smarter are a full service advertising agency specialising in brand response campaigns. Based in London, this year they came 33rd in Real Business magazine’s Hot 100 Fastest Growing UK Companies. Their sister agency, Leftfield Digital are a web technology, ecommerce, content management, digital marketing specialist and UK partner of Elastic Path ecommerce solutions.

Shanks Group plc the waste and resource management company serving customers in the UK, Belgium and Holland, have appointed Leftfield Digital to revamp their online presence.

Within the organistation over 3,000 people are employed at more than 100 sites offering a wide and often innovative range of waste management solutions. Shanks needed a web content management tool to serve the information needs of it’s customers, prospective customers, partners and staff.

Working in partnership with design and branding agency Appetite, Leftfield will deliver a custom install of Drupal CMS covering a range of content including information on social responsibility and client case studies.

Leftfield Digital have been appointed to deliver ecommerce for Leeds Metropolitan University Student Union, following the successful re-launch of their Union website. The new store will be a customised Magento commerce installation, and will enable the Union to maximise revenue from their commercial activities.

Initially selling tickets for gigs and events (both for University venues but also other non-Union locations), branded merchandise and clothing, the initiative will look to extend the range of product and services offered by the Student Union online. Further integration between the various online systems will be delivered post-launch to provide students a single view user registration for all Union services. 

The site is due for launch for the start of the new academic year in early September.

Not a moment too soon, we’re delighted to welcome two new members to team Leftfield - Nanna Halinen and Dave Nash.

Nanna is joining us in account management, previously having freelanced at Box New Media and studied Interaction Design at New York University (no less). She’s already well into projects for Leeds Met Student Union, AIG UK Ltd and TVOnics.

Dave hails from NZ and is our latest addition to the design team. Working with creative director Alex Blaney he’s already produced two project winning concepts (nice work!).

Welcome to both of them!

We are looking for the rare individual who has the passion and understanding of how next-generation interactive experiences should look and function, as well as the dedication and talent to execute them. The selected candidate will demonstrate an excellence in design from a user-perspective across all online disciplines from e-commerce, websites to CMS deployment.

Alongside the Digital Creative Director, you will be responsible for driving all creative endeavors for the company, as well as helping to create the ideal atmosphere for producing award winning interactive experiences. In addition, you will have frequent contact with clients and vendors, so professionalism and a holistic view of the entire design/development process is important.

Your Credentials :

- You must possess the vision to generate and execute cutting edge design solutions.

- You are degree educated in a relevant subject or possess suitable digital agency experience (5 years minimum).

- You must have the ability to work harmoniously with both developers and senior management.

- You must have the ability to work effectively under pressure and juggle multiple projects on accelerated timelines.

- You must have a passion for creating pixel perfect designs, managing the fulfillment of concepts paying close attention to every last detail.

- You must have impeccable verbal and written communication skills.

- You are an expert in the following design-related applications: Photoshop, Flash, Illustrator, HTML/CSS

- You are very proficient in the following: AfterEffects, Video Editing, 3D-design, PHP/Javascript

- You have a kick-ass portfolio that demonstrates your abilities, with online examples to back your work up… furthermore you have an attitude to not accept second-best or to lag behind the digital curve.

To Apply:

Package: £ excellent, based on experience. Performance related bonus scheme, healthcare and gym membership contributions

Location: New Oxford Street, London WC1A 1DG

Instructions for applicants: Submit your CV with a covering letter explaining your suitability for the job and agency. Applications will only be accepted with online examples. Absolutely NO Agencies.

Contact: recruitment@leftfield-digital.com, quoting “Blog : Senior Digital Designer”