About Us

Drayson Design has evolved since it started in 1998 when the Internet was still in it’s infancy. Adapting and learning new technologies to ensure we offer our clients a service and support with a smile.

As a creative team, we are a friendly bunch, always pushing each other to make sure we deliver our best work.

About Us 1

The Spark…

Our founder, Gordon Drayson has always been interested in computers, starting at primary school, when personal computers were becoming a “thing.”

His school had one BBC Micro computer which was shared between classes. Gordon quickly became the school “expert” and was tasked with setting it up and moving it between different classrooms. This led to him persuading his dad to get him his own Acorn Electron when he started secondary school.

Gordon would write his own computer programs in BASIC and used it heavily, with a dot matrix printer, for his GCSE’s which helped him to get a Computer Science “A” grade.

Around this time, Gordon was using a BBS with a dial-up modem, and this led to him getting his own email address. It sounds silly now, but there were very few people with their own email address or even internet access. It was a very long and complicated email address, but it allowed him to communicate with people around the world.

Just Like Magic…

Gordon’s other full-time job is as a Magician, and he was one of the first entertainers in the world to have his own website. It was all hand-coded and pretty advanced for the time but looks dreadful compared to today’s standards.

A couple of years later, as the Internet was maturing and becoming less niche, other entertainers approached Gordon to ask him to build websites for them, and so, out of necessity Drayson Design was born.

We are still building websites and delighting clients today, along with a whole host of other services.

The Creative Team

These are the people behind the ideas and hard work.
They are the ones who make sure our solutions work perfectly for you.

Gordon Drayson

Gordon Drayson

Project Manager

The founder of Drayson Design. Gordon’s role includes liasing with clients, booking in jobs, and ensuring that everything is completed, on budget and on time.

Taylor Drayson

Taylor Drayson

Designer

Taylor’s role includes designing and building the websites for clients. Taking the initial concept ideas and bringing them to life in an interesting and informative way.

Paul Longhurst

Paul Longhurst

Technical Consultant

Paul has over 20 years experience delivering technical solutions to various multi-national finance companies, alongside his website and coding expertise.

Sean Barton

Sean Barton

Lead Developer

When clients require specific website functionality, Sean’s job is to code it and make sure everything is working. He has worked on hundreds of  successful projects.

Our Story

Over the Years

24th April 1998
Our First Website

  • The disbelieving.com domain name is registered. The website goes online shortly after and is continually added to and updated. It was one of the biggest and most visited children’s entertainer’s websites in the world.
22nd June 1998

Our First Sale

  • Drayson Design are in business, we make our first sale – a domain name for £117.50 (they were expensive back then)
22nd July 1998

The Magic Circle

  • We purchase the domain name themagiccircle.co.uk on behalf of The Magic Circle and set to work building their first website.
20th August 1998

Design Services

  • We start offering design services and printing of flyers.
1st July 1999

draysondesign.com

  • draysondesign.com domain name registered. A few months later the website is up and we have our first ever web presence.
17th August 1999
The Entertainers’ Network

  • We purchase and take over The Entertainers’ Network – a directory-based website that has been going since 26th June 1997
5th May 2000

Expanding Design Services

  • Design services expand to business cards, photocards, brochures and posters.
13th Dec 2001
Launch Hosting

  • We get our own servers and start offering website hosting to existing and new customers.
22nd May 2003

Customer Milestone

  • Drayson Design take on our 100th customer.
4th Feb 2004
Facebook Launches

  • The Facebook is born, later dropping “the” from its name. It was only available to Harvard students.
13th May 2004
Printing Launches

  • We partner with several printing firms to offer low cost, high quality, professional printing alongside our design services.
14th Feb 2005

youTube.com

  • The video uploading. andstreaming service opens it’s doors. The first upload is a trip to the zoo.
17th March 2005
Mac Support

  • We launch On Call, On-Site Mac Support.
9th Jan 2006

Videography Services

  • We start offering videography services to our customers.
21st March 2006

Twitter Launches

  • The original 140 character limited social media.
26th Sep 2006
Facebook Is Open To All

  • Facebook opens its doors to everyone in the world.
29th Jan 2009
Work Starts on OBA

  • Drayson Design start work on www.onlinebookingassistant.com – a SaaS (Software as a Service) that helps entertainers convert website visitors into bookings.
6th Oct 2010

Instagram Launches

  • With the popularity of mobile cameras, Instagrame becomes an instant hit with teenagers.
15th March 2013
Photography Services

  • We start offering photography as a service to customers.
2014-2020

We Get Really Busy

  • Drayson Design are approached to take on loads of new projects.
24th April 2020

This Week With Podcast and Vidcast Launches

  • Along with Taylor Drayson, we start up a weekly podcast where we talk about things that affect our business in the last seven days. www.thisweekwith.co.uk
25th June 2020

New Website Launched

  • We launch our brand new website, with an all new design and features.