Platforms that
run the business.
Websites, eCommerce and bespoke platforms for automotive businesses.
Built to last
beyond launch day.
A platform earns its value over years. It has to grow as the business does.
New markets and product ranges tend to arrive after go-live, often alongside older systems that still hold the data. So builds are planned for growth from day one.
Twenty years in the sector means we already know where automotive systems tend to strain. Discovery starts further forward. The build fits how you actually work.
Your development toolkit.
Websites
Complex offers, easy to navigate. Built on the platform that suits you, whether that's WordPress, HubSpot, Webflow or something else entirely. Structured for search from the start, and built to take on new markets or product lines without starting again.
eCommerce
Selling online, at automotive scale. Large ranges and market-specific pricing, handled in a checkout that works on any device. Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento or a bespoke build, depending on what fits.
Bespoke platforms
Software built around your process. When no off-the-shelf product fits, the platform is shaped around how your teams and customers actually work.
UX and interface design
Interfaces people can use without training. Journeys and prototypes are tested before the build starts, so the finished system solves the right problem.
Integrations
Systems that talk to each other. Connections into any CRM, from Salesforce to HubSpot, as well as ERP and older systems, mean data is entered once and stays accurate everywhere.
Bring us the brief
Tell us what the system needs to do and who will use it. You'll get back a recommended approach and a realistic timeline.
Development in action.
Eight divisions.
One codebase.
A multi-brand website launched in 90 days.
Unipart needed a website that could serve several business divisions, each with its own branding, on a tight budget and a three-month deadline.
A WordPress Multisite build with a shared codebase and a modular design system gave each division its own identity. Role-based permissions let teams manage their own sites.
The platform has grown from two child sites to eight over seven years, saving more than £100,000 in development and maintenance.
One ordering platform.
60+ markets.
Dealer ordering built for windows measured in minutes.
Harley-Davidson's dealers were ordering through manual processes that varied by market. Order windows added pressure, with thousands of items bought in a few minutes.
We proposed, designed and built DSS, an ordering platform adapted to each region's product availability and pricing. It connects to Harley-Davidson's internal systems, giving dealers and internal teams real-time visibility against sales targets.
The platform handles more than a million product variations, with 100% uptime this year.
Delivered a month
ahead of schedule.
A bespoke booking platform built around vehicle and crew scheduling.
Oxford Direct Services took waste bookings largely by phone. It needed an online platform that could handle complex scheduling of vehicles and operatives.
A one-month discovery phase set the blueprint. The bespoke build integrates with Workbooks CRM and takes secure card and mobile payments.
Released in two phases, OXWaste launched in just over four months, a month earlier than planned.
Built for engineers and buyers.
A website that sends each visitor where they need to go.
Carlton Thermal Systems' website wasn't reflecting thirty years of engineering expertise. An audit showed the problem ran deeper than the site.
Following a rebrand, the new website was built around sectors, with separate routes for engineers and procurement teams.
Since launch it has brought enquiries from a rail industry contact CTS had been trying to reach, and from NASA.
Four stories in
Plenty more to read
Websites, eCommerce and bespoke platforms across the automotive ecosystem.
Three ways to work together.
The right shape depends on the size of the problem, not the size of the budget.
A defined scope.
A clear output.
One piece of work, with a clear brief and a clear timeline. A new website, an online store, a customer portal or an integration, for example. Discovery comes first, so scope and cost are agreed before the build begins.
Because we're already immersed in the automotive ecosystem, we skip the onboarding lag that costs other agencies the first month. The thinking gets to the point faster.
"h2o are easy to work with and take the time to fully understand the brief when working on a new project. They always deliver to a high-quality and pose thought-provoking ideas for us to consider when tackling a new challenge."
Henry Larard, Essentra Components
Ongoing capability.
Built around your commercial objective.
Some platforms grow over time. A 6 to 12 month programme might launch a core site, then roll out further markets or divisions in planned phases. A structured roadmap keeps milestones clear and outcomes measurable.
"The multisite WordPress platform designed and built by h2o creative has been essential for our business. It not only allowed us to maintain our unique divisional identities but also streamlined our digital operations. The team's expertise, especially in developing a user-friendly CMS, ensured we could manage the platform internally with ease. This project has remained a cornerstone of our digital strategy for years."
Frank Nigriello, Unipart Group
Fully embedded.
Genuinely accountable.
For businesses that want more than a supplier. The same senior team that builds your platform supports and develops it, so it keeps pace with the business. Full-agency capability is there when a launch needs creative or digital behind it.
Our average client relationship runs to eight years. Our longest is over eighteen. Those numbers exist because the work keeps delivering and the intelligence keeps compounding the longer we work together.
"The team is very in tune with our business and business needs. We have a fantastic relationship with the team, and they quickly build up a rapport with teams in the business when working on a project with them."
Alistair Drummond, Unipart
our methodology
Empowered by ionic.
ionic puts your challenge at the centre of our world and applies the right capability at each stage, governed by our team's expertise. On a development engagement that means twenty years of sector knowledge and AI-accelerated workflows across design and build, all directed by senior people. It's part of how complex platforms are delivered sooner.
Questions we are usually asked.
Straight answers about how development work with h2o runs.
It depends on what the system has to do. If Shopify or WordPress does the job, you'll hear that from us. Bespoke makes sense when your process is the thing that sets you apart.
Discovery sets the timeline, and it's agreed before the build starts. As a guide, a multi-brand website has launched in 90 days, and a bespoke booking platform in just over four months.
Yes. Builds regularly connect to CRM, ERP and internal systems, so data moves between them without re-keying. Discovery maps what needs to connect and how.
Yes. Hosting can sit in your own environment, set up alongside your internal team, or with us on a cloud platform such as Azure, AWS, WP Engine or DigitalOcean. Support is arranged to suit, at whatever service level the business needs.
Explore our other capabilities.
Development works best alongside the brand and the campaigns that fill it. Four more capabilities, under one roof.
Let's talk development.
Tell us what your current system can't do. It's usually the best place to start.