Is something wrong at Valley...

[orton1966]

Hi all,

We do appreciate the interest in the new site, however considering it only went live last week with a very clear statement that it was work in progress I think a couple of posts recently are unduly harsh, verging on malicious. When made live we made a very clear statement that it would take a couple of weeks before every aspect was, as we would want it. We made a decision to go live a little early because of the concern and criticism about our lack of web presence.

During the past week several updates have been made, however these are not always the obvious things people notice, there will be more updates this week, and next until everything is right. Whilst everything is not perfect, yet, the vast majority of direct responses have been positive.

The site was first populated by the developers using a mix of text from the last websites, catalogues and a little new text. The site has been created with a CMS system allowing us to edit all areas, all text will be review, edited and if necessary re-written in time but first priority is to fill the blank areas and get all areas functioning and this is what we are working on now.

Fact is we are still a relatively small privately owned company who care about the products we make, today I personally answered 30 email enquires directed through the new site, mostly positive. When new text does find its way onto the site it will have been written by us, not a marketing company or department, it will be written by the very people who design, make and paddle the boats. Not every company can say this but that approach does take a little longer and sometimes goes not so smoothly, so I urge people to be constructive if they are criticising and to appreciate that we also realise the site is still a work in progress but we are working on it

Kind regards

Peter

[wilsoj2]

Hi all,

Fact is we are still a relatively small privately owned company who care about the products we make, today I personally answered 30 email enquires directed through the new site, mostly positive. When new text does find its way onto the site it will have been written by us, not a marketing company or department, it will be written by the very people who design, make and paddle the boats. Not every company can say this but that approach does take a little longer and sometimes goes not so smoothly, so I urge people to be constructive if they are criticising and to appreciate that we also realise the site is still a work in progress but we are working on it

Kind regards

Peter

(emphasis added by JRW)

I think Valley being the oldest, most famous and possibly largest sea kayak manufacturer in the UK, people tend to forget that it is still a very small company, owned and run by enthusiasts.

I still find it impressive that Peter takes the time to post here, and elsewhere, to keep paddlers abreast of developments and to respond to queries. He obviously cares and gives weight to paddlers' concerns.

I own Valley and NDK sea kayaks and have corresponded directly with Nigel Dennis and Peter Orton. That is part of what is very special about this pursuit.