A SOFTWARE development firm has added a touch of vava- voom to a car launch after completing a website design project for French car manufacturer Renault.

Gateshead-based AYO Digital was approached by the car multi-national to create a web interface to launch the new Renault Clio on the UK consumer market.

The website was purposebuilt for invitation-only customers who could log in using a code to be the first to book a test drive of the new car, and also receive exclusive information on Renault’s newest electric car, Zoe, that will be available next year.

Rob Mathieson, managing director at the technology firm, said: “We are delighted with the outcome of this project.

The Renault team had a specific idea of how the website should look, so we have built it to exact requirement and added a few extra special technical aspects.

“For instance, we developed a totally secure portal that is being hosted on a Microsoft Azure cloud platform, allowing the system to scale when large numbers of users access it. As this was being rolled out to 137 dealerships nationwide, the website had to be able to handle a large amount of traffic.

The platform allowed us to issue invitations to 135,000 customers who were invited to test-drive the new Clio.”

This is the latest highprofile project to be done by the technology company having completed work with Gentoo, Gateshead Council and AAF International over the past year. Its expert team also helped develop the timing software used by Team GB’s BMX representatives in the run-up to the London 2012 Olympics.

Mr Mathieson said: “Everything we build at AYO either makes a company or a service more efficient. The companies we like working with are really exciting and embrace technology but appreciate a strategic approach.”

The digital firm has its headquarters at the Northern Design Centre, in Gateshead, and now has sites in Manchester and London.

It has doubled its staff numbers from ten to 20 in the past year.

The digital company specialises in delivering business solutions for web and mobile devices, in addition to complex and highly technical web development projects.

Established in 2008 by Rob Mathieson, Tony Olanipekun and Kevin Reece, AYO Digital works with small and medium-sized enterprises and large organisations nationally, across a number of sectors including manufacturing, utilities, property and retail.

The global vehicle manufacturer, which has a presence in 118 countries, turned to the digital firm to help with the launch following a recommendation from Fusion 2K Events.

Nick Clinton, creative designer at Fusion 2K Events, said: “I knew the AYO team would be an ideal fit for this project.

“Working in the automotive marketing sector brings many challenges, and AYO Digital has risen to all of them. Professional, adaptable and loaded with expertise, the team brings innovative ideas to the project at every step.

“Their ability to react with speed and accuracy, combined with their friendly approach makes working with them a pleasure.”