About Us // Our History

No Fuss WordPress Experience

“It is not about doing ‘digital marketing’,
it is about marketing effectively in a digital world.”

WordPress to the Core

Learn more about the Connected way of working and how we have naturally evolved with one of the largest web platforms in the world while in the process supporting 100s of organisations with their digital challenges.

Who Are We?


”I have worked with many digital agencies over the years, Connected sit head-and-shoulders above them all.”
Tony Veverka, Group CEO at Transform Medical Group

One fateful night, nearly 30 years ago, in London’s West End, two beer-loving IT buffs went from local pub patrons to founders of one of the UK’s pioneering digital development and support company.

Martin & Jerry Pank had already logged a whopping 30 years experience between them before that brilliant epiphany – it must have been something magical brewing in their pints!

Now Connected offers world-class WordPress solution for businesses of all sizes everywhere from Europe to America – proving what can be accomplished over a few beers!

We’re the trailblazers of WordPress services – and we’ve never been afraid to blaze a new path. A reputation for industry firsts? That’s us!

Our Team

From Bexleyheath to Bali, Quebec to Queens Park, Sheffield to San Sebastián, you’ll find our team scattered across the globe. 24×7.

Everyone has their place where they like to sit and conjure up ideas, much like our sadly demised pub in the West End; that’s why our team is a little different from that of your average office-based digital agency.

There are three reasons for this.

Firstly: Our relationships are paramount. We empower our team to choose where and when they work as a way of opening up opportunities while ensuring consistent access to the best digital talent around, day or night! Our always-on approach provides unbeatable services and WordPress support — always with a friendly attitude!

Secondly: Our Cloud-based approach is transforming the way we do business. For us and our clients, it offers unprecedented agility and seamless responsiveness – a competitive edge that can’t be undervalued in this digital age. InformationWeek’s survey shows how vital rapid deployment of solutions are to modern businesses: an impressive 65% cited quick response times as their main reason for adopting Cloud technologies — something we made sure to perfect back in 2012 when we switched off all physical servers!

Lastly: We recognize the importance of a collaborative partnership with our clients and are dedicated to being their most trusted ally. We strive to create mutually beneficial relationships that go beyond traditional supplier/vendor models – we genuinely value each other.

Digital innovation since 1996

From the burst of the internet bubble to the rise of the cloud, we’ve been through it all and came out fighting.

Pontefract Castle, the birthplace of Connected, the worlds best WordPress agency

TODAY We’re 27 years old now and continue to prosper in what is becoming an ever more unstable marketplace.

Say a probable hello to the metaverse, increased privacy concerns, war in Europe, democratised stock trading, cyber-security issues, AI chat, and a drive for hyper-automation. Oh, and a period of mental inflation *sigh*.

2020 Our FOURTH decade in business, wow. Further investment in AI, automation, Blockchain, and remote services, yields huge advances and continued client satisfaction. We set out our stall for the next 10 years based on quality and stability. We move to a carbon-negative model, removing more CO2 than we add.

It’s the beginning of the end of the traditional workplace, the rise of employee empowerment, and the year we leave the EU. It’s also the year when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and changed everybody’s world, some for the worse, the majority for the better. CO2 is now almost 415ppm, almost 15% higher than when we founded.

2016 We turn 20 and offer our most complete and efficient WordPress service to date, working with a select group of clients and clearing thousands of support tickets quickly and efficiently.

It’s the year of Brexit, Trump and the birth of the post-truth world.

It was also the year that our founder’s favourite pub, The Pontefract Castle on Wigmore St. W1, was demolished to make way for new commercial development. CO2 breaks the 400ppm.

2012 Our move to the Cloud, Agile and fully responsive design is complete. We secure our place as one of the top WordPress agencies in the UK. It is also the year we move entirely to a location-independent working environment. We achieve carbon neutrality.

Kickstarter makes big news after a record $3.3 million was raised on its platform to create an old-school adventure game, setting into motion the crowdfunding revolution.

2008 We jumped on board the WordPress train and became known as the UK’s first 100% WordPress development company.

The world is plunged into recession – Northern Rock, MFI, Woolworths and Zavvi all go pop. The iPhone 3G is launched.

2004 We focus on conversion rates (and tracking) and create one of the world’s first open-source web frameworks, kick-starting our reputation for industry firsts.

Facebook’s domination begins; Youtube appears a year later.

2000 The internet bubble bursts and we land on our feet, prospering by delivering exceptional commercial value. We start to acquire our first multinational clients.

The Euro is launched, and we celebrate our 4th birthday.

1996 Martin Dower & Jerry Pank plant the seed of building a commercial-focused digital agency. Based in London and then Yorkshire, the business quickly grows.

Motorola invents the flip phone, and England host Euro ’96. The very first text message was sent less than four years earlier. Environmental CO2 is 363ppm.

Page updated: 2023-11-17