Replatforming Virgin.com

Simple brief. Complex reality.

Following on from scaling video content within Virgin, I was tasked with another challenge. The brief was simple in theory and complex in reality. Migrate a legacy codebase to Drupal, create a scalable structure, and bring multiple Virgin entities into one flexible ecosystem.

With no prior Drupal experience, I led the transition end to end. I managed the agency, defined the structure, and introduced a modular build approach. Think Lego bricks.
Once the core framework was in place, it could be replicated and adapted across the group without rebuilding from scratch.

One framework. Four brands.

This enabled a replatform not just of Virgin.com, but also Virgin Unite, the Eve Branson Foundation, and Virgin StartUp. Each entity had distinct needs but shared the same underlying architecture.

Crucially, we shifted control in-house. The team could manage taxonomies, verticals and content structure without relying on agency dev time. That unlocked speed and reduced cost.

The critical decision was to resist the temptation of a bespoke build. I pushed for a modular open-source framework precisely because I knew the real value wasn't in Virgin.com, it was in what came after it. By solving the architecture once, correctly, we gave the entire group a replicable foundation. That's what made the real test which came next, possible. When an unexpected crisis hit, we weren't rebuilding from scratch under pressure. We were adapting a system we already trusted.

Overnight. No margin for error.

The real test came with Hurricane Irma. Working with Mastercard, we had to rapidly adapt the Virgin Unite donation platform. It had been built for small contributions. Overnight, it needed to handle six-figure donations to support communities devastated by the storm.

We reworked the system under a very tight deadline, ensuring stability, scalability and trust at a moment that was crucial in a crisis. The platform held.