Grampian Business Finder

Grampian Business Finder is a large, bespoke digital platform built to help people discover trustworthy local businesses across Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and the wider Grampian region. The brief called for much more than a traditional brochure website or a searchable list of companies. It required a complete digital service that could support discovery, verification, enquiries, memberships, reviews, offers and events, while giving the Grampian Business Finder team the control needed to manage a growing local business community.

MCT Web designed and developed the platform from the ground up around a Nuxt and Vue frontend, a Go backend and SQLite data management. This gave the project a clear separation between the responsive public interface, the dedicated application service layer and the structured data that powers the directory. It also provided the flexibility to model the platform around the client's real-world processes rather than forcing those processes into the limitations of an off-the-shelf directory or conventional CMS.

The backend is organised around the core entities that make the service work: businesses, users, categories, reviews, subscriptions, events and offers. Relationships between those records allow content to be reused throughout the site while keeping each business profile, promotion and interaction connected to its owner. Status fields and date-based records support practical workflows such as verification, membership periods, live and expired content, and the controlled publishing of offers and events. For the client, this means the platform can continue to grow without turning routine administration into a manual editing exercise.

The public-facing Nuxt application turns that data into a fast, approachable discovery experience. Reusable Vue components are shared across search results, directory cards, business profiles, review interfaces, event and offer listings, navigation and member dashboards. This keeps the interface consistent while allowing each content type to present the information that matters to a customer. The responsive layouts were designed for the way people actually use a local directory: searching on mobile, scanning results quickly, checking contact details and moving from a listing to an enquiry with as little friction as possible.

Search is at the centre of the platform. Visitors can search across the directory, refine results by category and explore businesses by location. Business records contain structured information including services, descriptions, contact details, opening hours, websites, social profiles, images, qualifications and areas of expertise. This creates useful, indexable profile pages for search engines and gives customers enough context to choose a provider without having to visit several separate websites.

Location is handled as a first-class part of the application rather than as a static address field. Google Maps services support address and place selection, while Leaflet provides the interactive map experience for directory results. Business coordinates are stored with the listing, allowing markers to be rendered alongside results and linked directly back to the relevant profile. The map can also represent a group of businesses and a user's search radius, which is particularly useful across a geographically broad region where distance and service area influence purchasing decisions.

Trust and verification are built into the product model. Member businesses can be presented as independently verified and insured, with the associated status and dates managed as part of the business record. Reviews include star ratings, written feedback, optional images and replies, with visibility and moderation controls available to protect the quality of the directory. This makes credibility visible at the point of decision while giving the platform owner the tools to manage user-generated content responsibly.

The platform also gives members reasons to return and publish regularly. Businesses can manage their own profile and promote special offers and events, each with structured descriptions, dates and a relationship to the member responsible for publishing it. Profiles, reviews, offers and events can be shared to social channels, extending the reach of the content beyond the directory itself. The result is an active local marketplace that can generate enquiries and engagement between membership renewals, rather than a static listing service that only needs attention once a year.

Behind the public directory is a full account, membership and administration experience. Registration and authenticated dashboards allow businesses to manage their information and platform activity, while administrative views support the review of businesses, categories, reviews, offers, events, users and membership status. Stripe is integrated for membership payments, and the application includes protected forms, validation and role-aware access for workflows that should not be exposed to anonymous visitors. These controls reduce operational overhead and give the team a reliable way to keep the directory accurate as its membership changes.

Technical implementation was treated as part of the commercial proposition. Nuxt server functionality supports sitemap generation, structured metadata and JSON-LD so that business, offer and event content can be discovered by search engines. Form protection helps defend public submission points, while Sentry monitoring provides visibility into frontend and backend issues after release. The Go service layer gives the platform a dedicated foundation for future integrations and higher volumes of data, without tying the business to a fragile collection of plugins or page-builder conventions.

The finished platform gives Grampian Business Finder a durable digital home for its community. Customers can find and compare local providers through structured search and maps, verified businesses can present their expertise and generate enquiries, and the GBF team can manage the complete membership and content lifecycle from one bespoke application. It is a strong example of how considered technical architecture can turn a local directory concept into a scalable, revenue-generating service.