For as long as we can remember (and we’ve been around for over 31 years), organisations have struggled to deliver digital change. Technology continues to change. User expectations continue to rise. And getting the right resource, skills and expertise to deliver on time, on budget and to the highest quality is a real challenge.
That’s where we come in. We accelerate digital change by bringing the right blend of people and technology together to deliver successful software applications.
Having realised the potential of the internet in 1992, brothers Paul and Gerrard Callaghan founded Leighton as an internet services business and our early days were marked by our offerings in design, consultancy, and domain name registration.
As the 90s unfolded Leighton rapidly evolved into a prominent internet publisher, providing a suite of internet and multimedia services. From web server hosting to web page design, and even screensaver development, Leighton was at the forefront of the digital revolution.
By 1997, Leighton’s domain registration service evolved into DomainNames.com which rapidly grew to become the biggest registrar of .com domains in Europe before eventually being sold to Verisign in 2000.
The early 2000s marked another milestone for Leighton as another brother, Bernie Callaghan joined the fold, stepping in to lead the team as CEO over the next six years as Leighton became a breeding ground for the development of high growth ventures including 4Projects.
In 2001 British Airways selected to partner with Leighton, joining a portfolio of start-ups, SMEs and local enterprises. Giving us a strong foothold in the aviation industry, this is a partnership that has lasted over 22 years (and counting).
In 2003 Communicator was spun out of Leighton, an email and SMS marketing platform that aimed to help ambitious brands achieve breakthrough results, before going on to be acquired by Trinity Mirror in 2012.
By 2008 another platform was born out of Leighton in a bid to make webinars as easy to use and simple to scale as video and WorkCast was born. WorkCast is now considered one of the best webinar platforms in the world and the leading webinar service provider in the US and UK.
With several high growth ventures under our belt by this point, in 2001 behavioural marketing platform SaleCycle was built to help online retailers reduce cart abandonment and improve conversions. SaleCycle now has two global offices and over 500 international clients.
The final addition to the Leighton portfolio (so far) is Footy.com, the UK's leading price comparison site for football and sporting apparel and merchandise. Footy.com, SaleCycle and WorkCast remain within The Leighton Group and have all gone on to operate at a global scale.
After several years managing Leighton spin-out, Communicator, former Leighton alumni James Bunting rejoined Leighton in 2017 taking the helm as CEO and still leads us today as we accelerate our customers digital capabilities.
In 2020 we joined the AWS Partner Network, the first step on our journey to becoming the North’s leading AWS software developer. In 2022 we gained AWS Select Partner status in recognition of our technical expertise, certifications and accreditations with AWS.
Having spent the last three years building a strong team of trained and certified AWS specialists, in 2023 we gained AWS Advanced Partner status. Fast forward to today and Leighton has grown from a small start-up operation to the North’s leading AWS software development business, building high-performing teams and developing successful applications for some of the world’s biggest brands.
Our curiosity inspires the amazing. It’s boundless. We ask lots of questions. We’re open-minded. We love exploring new ideas. We aren’t afraid of failure. We love to push the boundaries of what’s possible.
We’re passionate about what we do and proud of what we achieve. We love what we do. We never settle for second best. We’re driven by our commitment to our craft and desire to make meaningful impact. We make the improbable, possible.
We do what we say we are going to do, when we say we will do it.
We act with honesty and truth, always. We do what we say we are going to do, when we say we will do it. We use good judgement and do the right thing. We always take ownership of our actions.
We nurture our amazing people to be the best version of themselves. We foster an environment where our people and their ideas can thrive. We never stop learning. We constantly want to improve.
We really care about our customers and about each other.
We collaborate to bring our purpose to life. We really care about our customers and about each other. We bring together diverse perspectives and talents from our customers and our colleagues to co-create exceptional solutions.
For over 31 years, Leighton has served as a hub for innovation, not only in building successful software applications for some of the world’s biggest brands, but in generating business ideas and creating innovative companies that now operate on a global scale.
Driven by a passion for innovation and commitment to excellence, we’re proud to be trusted partners and certified suppliers with industry-leading bodies.
AWS Advanced Tier Partner
BSI ISO/IEC 27001 Certification
Crown Commercial Service Supplier
Cyber Essentials Certification
Dynamo North East Member
G-Cloud Supplier
TechUK Member
WCAG Accessibility Supplier
We’re a team of software engineers, business analysts, product owners, project managers, solution architects, technical leads and testers that build and deliver software solutions that create efficiencies, integrate systems, improve processes and differentiates businesses.
On our mission to make the improbable, possible over the last 31 years we’ve picked up a string of awards, accolades and certifications along the way.
