GO-Organ Builders Ltd.

VAT Reduction

2008-11-28T21:00:00.000Z

Following the government's decision to reduce the rate of VAT from 17.5% to 15%, our clients will be happy to know that the cost of any tunings and other works will come at a slightly reduced cost. These changes come into effect on Monday December 1st and will last until early 2010. It is worth noting that there are some VAT exemptions when it comes to organ building work, and details of this can be found on our site, in the FAQ section. In other news Saint Catherine's Church, Gorseinon have confirmed they wish us to carry out a rebuild on their Nicholson organ at some point in 2009. We have also recently re-leathered two reservoirs for Neath Capel Soar Maesyrhaf and these have been reinstalled in the past week. We have recently gained several new tuning contracts in South Wales, Leeds, County Durham, North Wales and Lancashire, and are looking forward to a busy lead-up to Christmas, and an even busier 2009.

New Site Launch

2008-09-02T23:11:00.001+01:00

Today sees the launch of the improved GO-Organ Builders Ltd. website. You'll find more information than was previously available, as well as improved navigation and layout. The galleries have been completely redesigned to give you more information on each organ in our care, and this will be updated over the coming weeks to include specifications and images of all organs, where available.Also coming in the next few weeks is a Welsh language version of the website, which is currently being developed. As always the site will be maintained daily, and the news section kept up to date, so you can keep up with what the team at GO-Organ Builders Ltd. are doing.We hope you enjoy exploring the new site and appreciate your feedback and contributions, which should be sent to N.Cassidy@go-organs.org.uk.

South Wales Hears The Difference

2008-07-07T15:17:00.000+01:00

Last week the GO-Organ Builders team were once again down in South Wales, tuning in Port Talbot and Brecon, and assessing two jobs for rebuild- one being a 1935 Willis. We will be returning to the Swansea area for a further 5 assessments, installation of a new blower and two tunings.

Last week also saw us reinstalling the overhauled pantographic regulator at Downing College, Cambridge and tuning at Barton in Cumbria ahead of the wedding season.

This week, as well as returning to South Wales, we will be carrying out further work in Saint Alban's, Blackburn as well as some work within the Liverpool Diocese.

Site Update

2008-06-24T23:03:00.003+01:00

Organ Specifications- A few new stoplists added today- Bickershaw, Downing College, Beetham, Pooley Bridge and Chorlton-Cum Hardy. Images added to all stop-lists including Giggleswick, Stoke-Minster and Ambleside.
Recital Diary- Updated recital diary to remove yesterdays lunchtime recital at Wrexham, Saint Giles.

Site Update

2008-06-23T00:14:00.003+01:00

Pipes in Stock- This page has been updated to include details of a selection of pipes in stock.
Redundant Organs- Created page and entered details of a two manual Nicholson Organ.
Organs in Our Care- Captioned photographs in this section.
Ambleside Specification- Added organ specification for Saint Mary The Virgin, Ambleside.
Meta Tag Updates- Updated all Meta titles, keywords, descriptions and language tags for more appropriate search traffic.
noscript Element Added- noscript element added to homepage to allow visitors with javascript disabled to view image on homepage.
Sitemap Updated- The sitemap has been updated to show newer pages.

Future updates will remain focused on navigation, as well as expanding on current content (such as organ specifications) and exploring new features.

Site Update

2008-06-21T21:06:00.003+01:00

A lot of updates to the site this week, and we're still working on them:

The New Links Directory- The old links page has been replaced by a directory structure. Pages are grouped by category and these pages will be updated following new sites/pages being found or suggested.
Removal of SnapShots- Although SnapShots is a good tool, offering a preview of a page without leaving the GO-Organs site, it was causing problems in some browsers. So we've removed SnapShots from the site.
Changing Image on Homepage- The image of Giggleswick School Chapel's organ case is still there, but now it's part of a selection of images, so each time you visit the homepage a new image will present itself.
Resized Gallery Images- Previously when you clicked on an image in any of the galleries you would be taken to a full size original. This slowed down loading times and was unnecessary. Maximum dimensions have been set for all images.
Pop-Up Gallery Images- In an effort to improve navigation, when images are clicked they will appear in pop-up windows.
Bluecoats Gallery Captions- Over time, all of the gallery images will have captions beneath them, as opposed to the current 'alt' descriptions which appear when you hover your cursor over images. The photographs of the Bluecoats rebuild where captioned this week.
The Online Store- The organ store has been future-proofed, to allow for ease of use when we start selling more items. The 'Buy Now' button has been replaced with 'Add to Cart' and a 'View Cart' button has been added to the top of the page.
Additions to 'About' Section- We've added an Environmental Policy and our Mission Statement.
Changes to Galleries- Added images of Brecon Cathedral and Park Place, and repaired/replaced all broken links and missing images.
Updated Recital Diary- Removed past recitals, and added details for two concerts a Brecon Cathedral.

Priority is now being placed on making navigation more user-friendly, as well as increasing conformity to standards throughout the galleries.

Site Updates

2008-06-21T21:02:00.002+01:00

As previously mentioned- the website is constantly being updated, and the changes aren't always immediately apparent. So our blog, which can be found at organ-builder.blogspot.com, will now contain updates made to the site. These will usually be in note form, but will let you know what changes have been made. So if a gallery is updated, or a broken link is fixed you'll know to check it out.
For visitors using Internet Explorer 8, you'll be pleased to know that the GO-Organ Builders news page is now a WebSlice, meaning you can be notified of updates in your browser's links bar.
This week will see us visiting Beetham for a day in order to carry out repairs to wooden pipes and removal of the pedal chest for glue flooding and re-palleting. We will also be spending a day carrying out intensive maintenance on the organ of Blackburn, Saint Alban's, following the removal of plastic sheeting

GO-Organs Go Green

2008-06-17T20:09:00.002+01:00

Another busy week has seen us removing and overhauling the pantographic regulator at Downing College, Cambridge and tuning several jobs in the North. We also re-routed the heavy pressure wind supply at Stoke Minster in time for a delightful and varied programme at the North Staffordshire & District Organists Society members concert.
The GO-Organs website is constantly changing, expanding and updating (it is maintained daily), and we have just begun making improvements based on visitor feedback. These changes are ongoing and if you wish to make any suggestions then please get in touch. If you find any part of the site doesn't come up to scratch or you have a suggestion then let us know. We are currently in the process of adding captions to every picture in our organ gallery. Although you can currently view captions by hovering your mouse over the image, it's been decided it is more visually appealing if the caption is visible immediately.
We've also added our Mission Statement and Environmental Policy to the About section. GO-Organs are committed to reducing our impact on the environment, which is why we've put together this policy. We have been using a 'green' energy plan since the early days and ensure we reduce waste, and recycle what we can. We ask all our clients, suppliers and contractors to support us in this, and hope we can set an example for other organ builders to follow.

A Pleasant Trip to South Wales

2008-06-09T22:54:00.002+01:00

Last week we had the great pleasure of working on an organ in Swansea. Clive Williams has had a building specially erected to house the organ and has been arranging small recitals for charity for some years. We spent two days on site carrying out repairs to pipe work, fitting new tuning slides, regulation and tuning. We hope we will see more of Mr. Williams in the future.
This week is another busy week for us, with work commencing on the swell winding of Downing College, Cambridge and adjustment to the heavy pressure wind at Stoke Minster.
We are also looking forward to a recital by Ian Tracey at Saint Ambrose, Widnes. We will of course be on stand by, but nonetheless this will be a refreshing evening during such a busy time- with more on the horizon. We are currently preparing quotes for two jobs in North Wales, one in South Wales, two in the Midlands, two in Liverpool and one in Lancashire.

2008-06-01T15:00:00.000+01:00

Yesterday saw the launch of the GO-Organ Builders Channel on Youtube. The first video to be added is a sample of Paul Derrett's Laudate Dominum.

In the near future we will be adding more videos to our Youtube channel, and create a dedicated section of this site to showcase our videos.

Ending 20 Years of Silence

2008-05-28T15:00:00.000+01:00

28/05/08- Amongst other things, we've recently been working hard to get an instrument in the Liverpool Diocese playing after 20 years of silence. The Organ at Saint Patrick's, Park Place has not been used for approximately 20 years, as the church was destined for demolition until recent years. The organ is an historic Bishop, of 1827. We have also been brought in to regulate and tune the Gray & Davison organ at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Liverpool.
First tuning visits have now taken place at Brecon Cathedral, in time for the enthronement of the new Bishop, and Sacred Heart & Saint Edward in Darwin. The latter being a one manual G.M.Holdich

Fundraising Efforts

2008-05-07T15:00:00.000+01:00

07/05/08- One of our employees, Norman Cassidy, will be taking part in this years Great North Run and we are supporting him all the way. Please take the time to visit his fundraising site at www.justgiving.com/ncassidy and give what you can. He will be raising money for Saint Joseph's Hospice, a charity he has supported for some years.
If you would like to find out more about Jospice and their work, please visit their website http://www.jospice.org.uk and learn about this worthy charity.

Brecon Cathedral and Online Store

2008-05-02T15:00:00.001+01:00

It has been a busy month for GO-Organ Builders Limited, with a clean and overhaul on the go at Accrington, Saint Anne's and work starting on several new jobs. We are delighted to have been awarded the tuning contract for Brecon Cathedral, South Wales, as well as two new jobs in Accrington and Saint Philip Neri in Liverpool.
We will soon be starting work on a private residence organ in Swansea. We will also be modifying the winding system for Downing College, Cambridge and carrying out extensive repairs of the actions at Chorlton-Cum-Hardy.
We have also recently acquired a two manual Hunter organ, which will be dismantled and brought back to the workshop for cleaning, in the hope that we can re-house this organ in the future. If you have any interest in this organ, please contact us.
April 30th saw the launch of our online store to coincide with the release of Paul Derrett's Laudate Dominum, recorded on the Giggleswick School Chapel Organ. This is the first recording since the organ was rebuilt in 2005, and the CD is priced at £9.99.
We are looking forward to busier times ahead, and hope to soon expand the online store. In the meanwhile, keep checking the website for updates.