Keep the useful parts
We worked from the existing design direction rather than throwing everything away. The goal was not to redesign for the sake of it, but to turn the strongest parts of the visual work into a proper, maintainable WordPress build.
Case study
Pavilion Recruitment: a WordPress rebuild after a project went wrong
Taking over after a difficult website project and rebuilding Pavilion Recruitment's WordPress site around core WordPress, custom code and the features their business actually needed.
Challenge
What needed solving
Pavilion Recruitment came to us after a difficult experience with another developer. Their website project was behind schedule, over budget and had left them with a site they could not confidently use or launch. The build looked close to finished on the surface, but underneath it relied heavily on a page builder and plugins instead of WordPress core and custom development. That created slow page loads, large page payloads, inconsistent layouts, unfinished responsive behaviour and features that were not working as they should.
Approach
What we did
Use WordPress core first
Our approach is to rely on WordPress core, the block editor and custom coding wherever possible, rather than filling a site with plugins that duplicate features or add more than the project needs.
Build for the site Pavilion needed
Instead of trying to fix every issue inside the page builder, we rebuilt the site as a custom WordPress theme with the right templates, blocks and behaviours for Pavilion's content.
Reduce the moving parts
We removed unnecessary plugin dependence, tightened the responsive layouts, improved image handling and made the core site features work in a simpler, more predictable way.
Deliverables
What the client received
- Custom WordPress theme
- Core WordPress editing setup
- Responsive page templates
- Search improvements
- Website rebuild
- Cleaner CMS editing experience
Client review
From the moment Atomic Horse stepped in, things completely turned around. They made what felt like an absolute mountain, suddenly feel manageable.
Outcome
What changed
A project back under control
Pavilion went from feeling stuck with an unusable site to having a clear route to launch and a website they could be proud of.
Less bloat, less risk
Using WordPress core and custom code reduced the amount of plugin overhead, update risk and third-party configuration sitting between Pavilion and the site they needed.
A calmer editing experience
Editors can work with the content they actually need, without being asked to manage every tiny layout decision by hand.
A site built to last
The finished build is easier to maintain, easier to extend and less likely to be knocked sideways by plugin updates or one-off page edits.
Pavilion Recruitment did not come to us with a neat, straightforward brief. They came to us after a website project had gone badly wrong. They were behind schedule, over budget and had been left with a site that was not ready for real users.
That is a horrible place for any business to be. A website project should make things clearer, not leave you disheartened and unsure whether the thing you have paid for can actually be launched.
There are a few ways to build a WordPress site. One is to use a page builder and a stack of plugins to get pages together quickly. Another is to use WordPress core, the block editor and custom code to build a site around the client’s content, goals and day-to-day editing needs.
Both routes have their place. Page builders can be useful when speed is the main thing, or when a site needs to be assembled without much development time. The trade-off is that flexibility can turn into complexity. Over time, a site can pick up extra scripts, layout quirks, plugin overlap and editing choices that make it harder to keep everything consistent.
Our core principle is to start with WordPress itself. If WordPress already gives us a solid way to do something, we use it. If the project needs something more specific, we write the code for that job. Plugins still have a place, but they should solve a real problem rather than become a substitute for development.
That makes a difference because every extra plugin is another thing to load, configure, update and keep compatible. Too many of them can slow a site down, add features nobody needs, introduce subscription costs and make future changes harder than they should be. A custom theme built around the business is usually cleaner: fewer moving parts, a clearer editing experience and less chance of the site falling over because one plugin changed its mind.
That was the point Pavilion Recruitment had reached. The existing test site looked almost there at first glance, but the closer we got to it, the more problems appeared. Pages were slow to load, the home page had a large network payload, images needed optimisation, smaller screens exposed broken layouts, the main menu fell apart, search was unfinished and carousel blocks were not working properly.
Some of those things could have been patched. But spending weeks clicking around inside a page builder would not have been the best use of Pavilion’s time or budget. The more useful answer was to start again with the existing design direction and build it properly.
We created a custom WordPress theme focused on the things Pavilion actually needed: clear page templates, reliable responsive layouts, working search behaviour, better image handling and a CMS that gave editors enough control without handing them infinite ways to break the page.
The finished site keeps the intent of the original design, but gives Pavilion a cleaner technical foundation underneath it. It is faster, easier to manage and much better prepared for future changes.
Client review
We're now live with a website we love, that is performing well and it's all thanks to Atomic Horse and the team.