A BRADFORD web design and development agency has doubled the size of its team by adding a development hub in Lahore, Pakistan.

Websquare, which has been around since 2007, has gone international during the Covid 19 pandemic, defying the odds and adopting a positive outlook for the future.

While other businesses have cut back and hunkered down to weather the economic storm, bosses at Websquare decided that the time was right to grow and expand the firm's team as well as its resources, in readiness for negotiating the post-Covid world.

The firm, based at Carlisle Business Centre, Carlisle Road, Manningham, has done this by investing in developing a high-end development hub in Lahore, one of Pakistan's wealthiest cities.

This has succeeded in doubling the size of the Websquare team and significantly increased the company's capacity and capability to deliver complex projects.

Bosses at the agency say they have managed to defy the odds and in doing so are already reaping the benefits of this investment.

They have acquired contracts from a major UK-based third sector organisation called the NZF, which gained prominence for its response to and financial support for the victims and families of the 2017 Grenfell Tower disaster.

Hamid Shah, senior digital project manager for Websquare: said: “It’s easy for a business to adopt a negative mindset, during the current crisis laying people off, curtailing investment in a business is often a natural and understandable response to uncertainty.

"I believe that there’s light at the end of this tunnel, and when we come out, I want Websquare to be ready to take the lead and deliver when other web designers and software houses are still putting themselves back together," he added.

"For example, there is loads of potential for growth in the Middle Eastern market; we’ve already secured a lucrative maintenance contract with a large financial institution in Kuwait at the start of the year, which is a massive positive indicator for us."

The firm has helped hundreds of companies since 2007 to grow and support their businesses, providing a range of digital services to help brands achieve a digital transformation.

In 2021 Websquare intends to reinvest heavily with new ventures and services in the pipeline planned for this year, including significant collaborations and innovative development services.

In announcing the recent investment and expansion, Mr Shah told the Telegraph & Argus: "Courting international clients and opening a new development hub to increase our capacity, we believe businesses need to think outside of the box and be gutsy to ride out the pandemic."