The Model Workshop
Magento multi-store development, Hyvä and ongoing ecommerce consultancy.
Hobby Workshop
Supporting the long-term growth of a leading UK hobby retailer
Hobby Workshop is a fast-growing retailer specialising in tabletop gaming, model kits and hobby products. I work with the business on an ongoing basis across ecommerce strategy, Magento and Hyvä development, search, technical SEO and continued growth.
Client overview
Founded in 2018, Hobby Workshop is a specialist UK retailer serving the tabletop gaming, modelling and hobby markets. The business operates a large and frequently changing product catalogue alongside physical retail and marketplace channels.
I have worked with Hobby Workshop over the long term, providing ongoing ecommerce consultancy and Magento development rather than approaching the website as a one-off build.
Project overview & objectives
Although the business had established strong marketplace sales, relying heavily on third-party channels limited ownership of the customer relationship, first-party data and opportunities for remarketing and customer retention.
The long-term objective has been to build a stronger direct ecommerce channel: improving the Magento platform, customer experience, organic visibility and conversion while creating a technical foundation capable of supporting continued growth.
Ecommerce consultancy
Development decisions driven by wider commercial objectives
My work combines hands-on Magento development with ongoing ecommerce consultancy . The platform, frontend architecture, integrations and third-party module estate are continually reviewed rather than treated as fixed parts of the website.
Because the relationship is ongoing, development can be prioritised according to wider commercial objectives rather than delivered as isolated technical tasks. This includes customer experience, conversion, product discovery, organic performance and identifying opportunities to support continued ecommerce growth.
The storefront itself has developed around the demands of a large, frequently changing catalogue, with continued work across navigation, merchandising, product pages and the customer experience on desktop and mobile.
Hyvä development
Modernising the Magento frontend
As the platform developed over time, the frontend accumulated complexity through legacy modules, duplicated styling and overlapping JavaScript dependencies.
I planned and delivered the migration to Hyvä, rebuilding the storefront around a considerably lighter and more maintainable frontend architecture while retaining the functionality required by the wider ecommerce operation.
The same Hyvä implementation also supports sister brand The Model Workshop , using Magento's multi-store architecture to maintain two distinct customer-facing brands on shared underlying infrastructure.
Search & integrations
Connecting Magento with the wider ecommerce operation
Magento sits at the centre of a wider ecommerce and operational ecosystem. I support the implementation, maintenance and continued development of the services that connect the storefront with the rest of the business.
These include StoreFeeder for order and inventory management, Reviews.io, Klaviyo, loyalty functionality and systems supporting the physical retail operation.
Clerk.io provides onsite search and product recommendations across the platform. I support its technical implementation and ongoing integration, including catalogue and category data, store-view behaviour and how search and recommendation components are presented within the storefront.
This frequently involves working directly with technology partners and extension developers, diagnosing integration and store-scope issues and ensuring new services fit cleanly into the wider Magento platform.
Long-term partnership
Ongoing growth, SEO and ecommerce consultancy
My relationship with Hobby Workshop has developed over many years and extends well beyond maintaining the Magento platform.
I work with the business across technology, customer experience, growth opportunities and the wider performance of its direct ecommerce channel. This includes reviewing how technical decisions affect organic visibility, site architecture and category performance as well as resolving technical SEO issues.
Development, SEO and growth are treated as connected parts of the same ecommerce strategy. Changes are considered not only for whether they work technically, but for how they affect product discovery, conversion, organic performance and the ability of the business to continue scaling.
The result is an ongoing partnership focused on continually improving the platform rather than simply maintaining it.
