[past, present, future]

Drag+drop was formed by father and son team - David and James Wright - in 1999. Like many successful businesses, their starting point was modest, working out of office premises that had a former life as a garage attached to David’s house. The two of them worked out of ‘Pine Lodge’, on the outskirts of Basildon, for the next two years.

Initially they acted as resellers for US firm Managing Editor Incorporated, bringing their advertising software to the UK print industry. Listening to their customers, they started writing software that linked advert booking, tracking and planning, meeting a previously unmet need. They also diversified, writing Point Of Sale advertising software for retail outlets, such as Sainsbury’s.

With an increasing workload, they recruited Mike Latham - then John Ford - moved to larger premises in Rayleigh, and started work on ProMotor (Property and Motor vehicle advertising).

The software ran to five versions (2.7, 2.5, 2.0, 1.5, 1.0), and underwent the significant change from being installed locally to being hosted on remote servers. This meant that feature requests and updates no longer needed to be carried-out at each client’s site, requiring a physical visit, but could instead be carried out from the office at the touch of a button.

In 2009 ProMotor was discontinued and the EzAdsPro product range was launched to reflect Drag+drop's product diversification. The product range is composed of four products: EzAdsPro Publisher, EzAdsPro Sales Assistant, EzAdsPro Studio and EzAdsPro Black Box.

Following the staff additions of Scott Webb and Dan Milden, Drag+drop relocated from Rayleigh to Southend-on-Sea in November 2006. Today the workforce stands at nine, with the more recent additions of David Lawson, Ray Holmes, Francis Needham and Alan Lam; and the product range stands at ten — with K4, InfiniType, Bluefin, Recruiter and DDI, along with the five products already mentioned. The products are used throughout the UK by most of the major newspaper groups and many independent papers - not to mention magazine houses and general printers - along with household names such as the AA.

Beyond the UK, D+d are now partners with US based MacDonald, having joined up with MacDonald Artwork Service in 2004, and MacDonald Digital Service in 2005.

As for the future, D+d see the trend towards server hosted solutions continuing, along with end-user self-service, and the move from print to online advertising. They also intend to continue increasing their staff base and expanding into emerging markets.

But whatever the changes, some things will remain unchanged: the high level of support for customers, a depth of understanding of their needs, and delivery of what they want. So for the moment, D+d are using their past experience, in the present, to shape the future...