Livestock specialists, Scottish Procurement Services, is generating new business and enjoying a higher profile thanks to its new website and internet marketing strategy.

Alan Gray, Founder of Scottish Procurement Services (SPS) takes up the story: “SPS had an existing site which had never performed, it was static. Tom Donaldson of IRUN Scottish Borders had been my business mentor for two years so in 2008 I approached him to ask him to put our relationship on a commercial footing and to help develop an internet marketing strategy, which included a new website.”

Tom Donaldson comments: “My brief was to develop a new website to help with lead generation. The new site boasts some impressive images of livestock, and the layout and site content was developed between myself and Alan.”

Tom continues: “The new SPS website features two case studies written by the IRUN copywriting team. For these, Alan’s clients were interviewed and the case studies written up for inclusion on the site. Alan described this as an easy process which was done professionally and has said his clients were impressed with the service and the resulting copy.”

Alan comments: “The SPS website only went live late in 2008, so it is very early days but I feel we now have the basis of a good site, which will help attract new business. Tom is working on the site’s optimisation to help its search engine ranking. Like any investment in marketing, a website has to generate a return on investment and work is continuing to ensure this is the case.”

Looking to the future, SPS is likely to be targeting the European market. If this develops, a translated copy of the website will be developed to help penetrate the market. In time, both Tom Donaldson and Alan Gray will be working to further develop the SPS website to help it achieve the goal of generating new business.

Alan concludes: “Tom provides a good professional service. Having had him as my mentor and then working with him on my website and internet marketing, I know I can trust his judgement implicitly.”

Scottish Procurement Services (SPS), sources quality sheep and cattle from the Borders, Peeblesshire, Lothians and Northumberland for sale across the UK. Alan Gray is a livestock specialist, having worked for nearly 20 years as a Principal Auctioneer at Reston Market. When the market closed in 2001 during the Foot and Mouth Epidemic, Alan Gray founded SPS to provide a personal service to farmers wishing to buy and sell stock.