When Manchester Airports Group (MAG) set out to transform its digital platforms, they needed a team who could deliver at pace, unlock long-term value, and align culturally with a multi-site organisation serving millions of passengers. Counter answered the call.
This collaboration marks the first major milestone in MAG’s digital reinvigoration programme, with the release of the new East Midlands Airport website — and work already underway on Manchester and Stansted.
TypeScript, React, Storybook, Storyblok
MAG had an ambitious brief: rebuild and modernise their airport websites using reusable, scalable components, while ensuring performance, flexibility, and maintainability. All three sites needed refreshing, with East Midlands Airport (EMA) as the first release.
The task wasn’t just about writing code. It meant integrating a new squad of developers into a large, multi-disciplinary organisation already operating at pace. The team needed to quickly understand MAG’s established ways of working, deliver production-ready code fast, and contribute to a complex ecosystem spanning UX, content, and engineering.
Counter assembled a dedicated team of developers for this project, led by Counter Tech Lead Rich House. The team included Jason Bell, Yana Turiak, Zack Sawyerr, and Hanna Peters, joined later by senior specialists Richard Neat and Cameron Bell to provide additional burst capacity. (Hanna stepped in for original team member Ellen Daly, who contributed in the early stages.)
Using MAG’s customised CMS as the foundation, the developers built over 70 reusable components and delivered more than 200,000 lines of new and updated code, incorporating best practices along the way — including type safety, early testing, and rigorous code reviews.
Embedded mentorship and knowledge sharing weren’t add-ons. They were built into Counter’s delivery model. Through tooling, professional development, and a culture of transparency, every team member grew their capabilities while raising the bar for delivery standards across the programme.
East Midlands Airport’s website delivered as Phase One of MAG’s digital transformation programme.
The team created a reusable component framework built across all three sites (East Midlands, Manchester, Stansted) with 70+ custom CMS components built with scalability in mind. Shift-left practices embedded, ensuring code safety from early-stage development and 200,000+ lines of high-quality code delivered, reviewed, and ready for scalability.
Contract extensions secured for the entire team, with MAG exploring permanent roles.
The new East Midlands Airport website represents a key step forward in our digital evolution. Counter’s team has been instrumental in helping us modernise our platforms, strengthen our development practices, and deliver a more seamless online experience for our passengers.
The delivery of the new East Midlands Airport website is just the beginning. Work is already underway building out the next phase of enhancements across Manchester and Stansted, with further improvements planned for EMA after Phase One.
As Counter continues its partnership with MAG, we’re not just building websites — we’re helping to build a platform that millions of passengers can rely on, now and in the future.