Context
Percy Martin is one of the UK's largest suppliers of used CNC machine tools: lathes, mills, grinders, EDMs and more. Based in Leicestershire and founded in 1921 by Percy Martin himself, the business has passed through four generations of the family and is now run by Alistair and Iain Martin, who between them bring more than 50 years of experience in the used machine tool trade.
With a team of 16 and roughly 200 machines in stock at any one time, it sells all over the world: around half domestic and half export, with UK enquiries driven mainly through its own website and international enquiries through Machine Seeker, a global machinery directory.
Percy Martin came to Pentangle in 2015 through a personal introduction, having outgrown its previous developer. That first project began a relationship that has now spanned more than a decade and two full website builds.
Challenge
Percy Martin's needs were simple, but that simplicity brought its own challenges.
- A lot of stock, few clicks. Around 200 machines in a handful of categories called for a clear, fast shop window that lets buyers find what they want with minimal friction, not an over-engineered catalogue.
- Marketing that fits the business. There was no integrated way to send mailshots when new stock arrived, and other suppliers kept pitching all-in-one CRM and auto-invoicing systems built for high-volume retail, not for a business selling a small number of high-value machines.
- Protecting a hard-won reputation. A business more than a century old, built on trust, word of mouth and repeat custom, needed a web presence that reflected that reputation rather than diluted it.
We don't sell enough quantity to warrant that complexity. I've had a number of companies try and promote this whole integrated auto-invoicing type of system, and we don't need it.
Approach
We started by listening to what Percy Martin needed rather than assuming what a typical client wants, and built the platform around the stock itself: every machine is a real record with its manufacturer, model, specifications, photos, video, price, serial number and status. The public website is the shop window; the team manage everything from the back office.
The 2024 rebuild replaced the previous WordPress site with a Laravel platform and custom admin, with existing stock, specifications and imagery migrated across so the launch was a genuine cutover rather than an empty catalogue. A visual and content refresh followed in 2025, and in 2026 Mailcoach was integrated with the live stock.
- A real stock system, not a page of listings: manufacturer to model to individual machine, with specifications inherited from the model and draft, live, sold and archived statuses that keep the catalogue current without losing history
- A catalogue built to sell machines: browse by category, filter by manufacturer, or search by model, reference or serial number, with watermarked galleries, video, grouped specifications, related stock, PDF datasheets and register-interest enquiries on every machine page
- An admin the team actually use: stock, bulk photo uploads, pages, news, testimonials and company information, all managed without a developer, with images resized and watermarked automatically
- Mailshots assembled from live stock: pick machines from the catalogue or load the latest stock in one click, choose images and specifications, preview, test and send to the Mailcoach list
Percy Martin had been pitched far larger systems. We built only the operational layer the business needed, stock, presentation, enquiries and mailshots, supporting the sales process without trying to replace it. The same two Pentangle contacts, Alun and Tom, have worked on both builds, and the latest migration went live on a Monday morning with no significant disruption.
Outcome
More than a decade on, the partnership continues to deliver practical, measurable value.
- Page-one Google visibility for its core search terms, sustained for years without significant SEO spend
- A site imitated by competitors, who have commissioned websites that closely resemble it
- Email marketing turned into a five-minute task: select the machines, create the mailshot, send
- No issues or downtime since the migration, with support a phone call or quick email away
- The website remains the main driver of UK enquiries and, with Machine Seeker, supports annual sales in the region of £5 million through combined online activity
- A relationship built to last, with Percy Martin planning to stick with Alun and Tom for future iterations
When it comes down to the third and fourth websites, we'll just be sticking with Tom and Alun.