As Head of Digital, I led the end-to-end development of Gilligan Group’s website using a headless WordPress architecture, combining the power of a decoupled CMS with a modern, high-performance frontend. This project served as both a production-grade solution and an experimental framework for scaling future digital products.
We used Git-based version control to manage code collaboration, implement feature branches, and maintain clean, reviewable deployments. The frontend was deployed via Vercel, enabling instant previews, zero-downtime deployments, and serverless functions for edge-level performance. On the backend, WP Engine hosted the WordPress CMS, optimized for security and uptime, with Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) and custom post types to support flexible content structures.
Content was queried using GraphQL via WPGraphQL, enabling highly efficient, targeted data fetching on the frontend — avoiding the bloat of traditional REST calls.
Headless architecture separates content management from presentation, allowing greater control over performance, developer workflows, and multi-channel publishing. Benefits include:
This build positioned the Gilligan Group with a future-proof digital infrastructure, allowing rapid iteration, consistent branding across platforms, and high search visibility through modern SEO practices. The project also acted as a prototype for scaling enterprise-grade headless frameworks, setting a baseline for future large-scale site architectures within the organization.
