Supporting the digital home of Sheffield

Taking over an established website with confidence

Taking ownership of an existing website brings a different set of challenges to building something from scratch.

Welcome to Sheffield was already a substantial Umbraco platform, with years of development, integrations and functionality supporting the Council's content and marketing activities.

The priority was to ensure a smooth transition between agencies, establish a clear understanding of the existing technical environment and identify any issues that could affect the website's ongoing reliability, security or performance.

The Council also needed a partner that could provide dependable support while working within the practical and financial constraints of a public sector organisation.

Rather than introducing unnecessary change, the focus was on protecting the existing investment and establishing a sustainable approach to managing the platform.

Understanding the platform before making changes

Our first priority was to get under the skin of the existing website.

We undertook a detailed technical code audit, examining the Umbraco implementation, application architecture, third-party dependencies, performance, security and accessibility.

The audit identified 30 findings across different priority levels, giving both Quba and Sheffield City Council a clearer understanding of the platform's technical health.

Importantly, the review also confirmed that the underlying codebase was generally sound, with no pressing architectural issues requiring a complete rebuild.

This provided a valuable starting point: a clear picture of what was working well, what needed attention and where improvements would deliver the greatest value.

Establishing stability and continuity

A successful project takeover isn't simply about gaining access to the codebase. It's about taking responsibility for a live digital service and ensuring the people who depend on it can continue to use it with confidence.

Our approach focused on establishing the technical knowledge, support processes and priorities needed to manage Welcome to Sheffield effectively.

By documenting the existing implementation and identifying potential risks early, we created a more informed basis for ongoing maintenance, issue resolution and future development.

This gave the Council a structured approach to managing the platform, rather than relying on reactive fixes or unnecessary redevelopment.

Prioritising the improvements that matter

Our technical assessment highlighted opportunities to strengthen the website across several areas, including performance, accessibility, security and the management of third-party scripts.

We assessed these findings according to their potential impact, helping establish a practical set of priorities for ongoing stabilisation and improvement.

For Sheffield City Council, this meant having greater visibility of technical risks and a clearer understanding of where to focus future investment.

A local partner with specialist Umbraco expertise

As a Sheffield-based digital agency and Umbraco Gold Partner, Quba brings both technical expertise and a strong connection to the city that Welcome to Sheffield represents.

Our experience supporting complex Umbraco websites enables us to take on existing implementations, understand their challenges and provide the continuity organisations need when changing digital partners.

For the Marketing Sheffield team, this means access to a specialist partner that understands both the technology and the importance of the website to the city's wider ambitions.