Home Appointments & Contracts Lancaster design agency beats national competition to win Dukes website refresh

Lancaster design agency beats national competition to win Dukes website refresh

Staff from Hotfoot Design and the Dukes Theatre

Lancaster digital and marketing agency, Hotfoot Design, has been selected to deliver a new website for iconic Lancaster venue, The Dukes.

The Dukes theatre invited businesses from across the UK to pitch to develop an up to date new website that will make online and mobile bookings easier and enable the organisation to better showcase the range of events and activities that it offers.

Hotfoot’s appointment by the Dukes is the latest in a number or projects on behalf of well-known Lancaster businesses and organisations by the agency, which include Lancaster University, Lancaster City Council and Lancaster Brewery and charities Neuro DropIn and CancerCare.

The Dukes was founded in 1971 in a converted church on Moor Lane in Lancaster. Since then it has become central to the Lancashire arts and cultural scene, offering award-winning theatre, independent cinema, live comedy and dance as well as a range of educational and creative activities for all ages. The Dukes is also well-known for its annual summer ‘Play in the Park’ in Lancaster’s beautiful Williamson Park.


Hotfoot, which is based at the Storey in Lancaster, offers a range of services including branding, website design, digital marketing, PR and social media management. It recently won Creative Business of the Year at the 2019 Red Rose Awards.

Hotfoot founder and creative director, Charlie Haywood, said: “The Dukes is a Lancaster institution, so to have been appointed as the agency to deliver its new website is a huge coup for us.

“The refreshed website will be an essential part of the Dukes being able to reach new audiences, making it possible for more people to experience its fantastic events and activities.

“As a Lancaster company, we strongly believe in what our city has to offer and so we are delighted to play a part in this project that will showcase what makes The Dukes such an asset to our area.”

Duncan Hodgson, Marketing Manager at The Dukes said: “Our website needs to perform on many levels, telling the story of the Dukes and what we offer to the people of Lancashire and beyond. Our audiences and supporters also need to easily be able to find what they’re looking for and have a simple and stress-free booking experience.

“We chose Hotfoot Design because we felt they would be best placed to make the big digital changes we are looking for, so that we can serve our audiences and supporters even better. We hope that this will be the start of a long-term relationship with Hotfoot as we continue to develop our website and digital offer into the next part of our Dukes adventure.”