A new website for
Petrochemicals Europe
A proposal to move Petrochemicals Europe from an institutional website to an authoritative European information platform for members, policymakers, media and the wider value chain.
You are not asking for a visual refresh
The brief is explicit that a redesign alone will not solve the problem. Content has aged, navigation has fragmented, and the material that carries the most authority is the hardest to reach. Underneath that sits a positioning question: Petrochemicals Europe wants to be recognised as a forum and an information hub, not read as the communications channel of an industry.
What the site has to do
- Make the case for petrochemicals in terms a non-specialist recognises
- Give policymakers evidence they can cite
- Give members a reason to return between meetings
- Give journalists something usable on deadline
What that changes
- Structure follows audience need, not internal organisation
- Data and publications become navigable content, not downloads
- Authority is shown through sourcing, not tone
- The homepage argues, rather than lists news
How we would measure it
- Findability of publications and position papers
- Depth of visit for policy and evidence sections
- Editorial time to publish
- Accessibility and performance against agreed targets
Confirmed at discovery
- Audience priority. Members, policymakers, media and the wider value chain are all named. Their order determines the information architecture.
- Existing evidence. Analytics, site-search logs and any internal research would shorten discovery and sharpen the content model.
What we found before writing this
We reviewed the current site in detail. These four observations shaped every recommendation that follows.
Pages, articles, media room, publications, events, applications, projects, sector groups and one legacy type. Nine models for roughly 550 items.
More classification terms than most sites of this size carry, largely unmaintained. This is the technical reason content is hard to find.
103 articles last updated in September 2022, events since October 2023. The media room is current; the reference material is not.
The interactive value chain requires a browser retired in 2022. Today it is effectively a PDF and a printed copy ordered by form.
We also found the page sitemap returning a server error, which prevents search engines discovering your static pages through the sitemap index. It is a small fix and it is included in the SEO workstream, but it illustrates the wider point: the site is not failing visibly, it is failing quietly.
What this means for the project
- The taxonomy rebuild is not optional. Search and navigation improvements rest on it.
- Content types consolidate from nine to five. Fewer models, clearer editing, cheaper to run.
- The value chain needs a decision, not a rebuild. Addressed separately, per section 5.10.
The site should make the argument,
not store it
Your own communication already has a spine: petrochemistry underpins everyday life, the sector needs regulatory certainty to invest, and with the right framework circularity becomes real. Today that spine lives in copy. We propose it becomes the structure.
What petrochemicals make possible
The entry point for anyone who does not already work in the sector.
Why Europe needs them
Economic and strategic case, sourced and quotable.
How the industry is transforming
Circularity and sustainability as progress, not position.
Data and evidence
Facts, figures and publications as navigable content.
Policy priorities
Positions, in context, where they read as informed rather than promotional.
This ordering does the positioning work directly. A visitor meets the value of the sector before meeting its policy asks, which is precisely the difference between an information hub and a lobbying channel.
Discovery method
- Three structured workshops covering audience priorities, content model and editorial reality, with a written decision log from the first day.
- Evidence before opinion. Analytics, site-search terms and the existing content inventory inform the architecture before any design work begins.
- Fortnightly demonstrations from development start, so nothing is approved only on paper.
Six templates, one system
Fewer page types, built as a component system, produce a more consistent site that is cheaper to extend and faster to edit. The saving is not in quality, it is in duplication.
Templates
- Home: the argument, not a news list
- Section landing: policy, sustainability, our industry
- Content: news, position papers and events as one model with variants
- Publication: with metadata, sourcing and related material
- Evidence: facts, figures and data
- Organisation: members, sector groups, team, contact
Design approach
A light identity refresh within your existing brand, as section 3.3 requires. Continuity of recognition, modernised typography, spacing and colour use.
Accessibility is designed in rather than audited on: contrast, focus states, target sizes and heading structure are fixed in the design system, not corrected later.
A documented component library handed over with the site, so future work does not require the original designer.
Assumptions
- Six templates. Consolidating news, position papers and events into one content model with variants. If more distinct types are required, this affects design and build.
- Editor-managed blocks. Six reusable blocks cover the current content patterns.
- English only at launch, per section 3.3, with the structure ready for translation later.
Open, minimal, and yours to take elsewhere
You are already on WordPress, and your team knows it. We propose keeping it and building properly on it, rather than introducing a platform that would make you dependent on us.
Architecture
- WordPress end to end, no separate application layer
- Custom theme and component system, not a page builder
- The smallest possible number of third-party plugins
- Separate staging and production environments
- Version control, CI/CD, multi-factor authentication
Hosting and operations
- European hosting, disclosed subprocessors
- Automated backups with tested restores
- Monitoring, health checks and alerting
- Security and dependency updates at least quarterly, sooner on advisory
Transferability
- Domain and primary accounts owned by Cefic throughout
- Source code and repository handed over
- As-built architecture and configuration documentation
- Component, dependency and licence inventory
- No proprietary lock-in of any kind
Every plugin is a long-term maintenance obligation, so we treat plugin count as a design constraint rather than a convenience. The fewer moving parts the site carries, the lower the risk you inherit when the project ends.
To confirm
- Hosting arrangement. Whether the site should sit within an existing Cefic arrangement or we provide it.
- Cefic IT standards. Any requirements beyond the RFP, and whether Cefic IT is consulted or approves.
Readable by people, search engines
and AI systems alike
Accessibility, privacy and security
WCAG 2.2 Level AA, tested with assistive technology rather than automated tools alone, with a conformance report at acceptance.
Consent management, documented personal-data flows, and a cookie configuration validated before launch.
Vulnerability scanning before go-live and after material change, with remediation included.
Backup and restore demonstrated, not asserted.
SEO and GEO
Technical foundations first: a complete redirect map from the current URLs, a working sitemap, schema markup, and clean semantic structure.
For generative engines, the same discipline applied to meaning: explicit authorship, dates, sources and entity relationships, with content structured so a passage can be retrieved and attributed without the surrounding page.
We make no claim about ranking inside AI answers. We make the site legible to the systems that produce them, and we measure what we can.
Analytics: GA4 with Google Tag Manager and consent mode, a documented measurement plan agreed before launch, and search and download events tracked so editorial decisions can be based on evidence. We can propose a European-hosted alternative if Cefic would prefer it.
Assumptions
- Continuity with Google Analytics is assumed. An alternative is available and priced on request.
- Cookie consent platform. We assume an existing licence; if not, licence cost is additional.
A defined volume, and an honest rate beyond it
Your content audit completes at the end of September, after this proposal is due. Rather than quote an open-ended figure or hide the risk, we have priced a defined volume and published the rate that applies beyond it.
Included
- Up to 60 pages and 40 publications with associated assets
- Content mapped to the new structure and content types
- Dates, authorship and agreed metadata preserved
- Complete old-to-new redirect map
- Post-migration checks on links, formatting, metadata and downloads
- Image rights, broken links, duplicates and obsolete files flagged for your decision
Beyond the included volume
€ 85 per hour, or an agreed per-item rate once the audit defines the real volume. We would rather agree this with you in October than discover it in March.
Nothing is migrated without Cefic approval, and the media-room archive of roughly 400 items can be carried across as a dated archive or left behind, as you prefer. That decision changes the figure materially and is best taken once the audit is complete.
Dependencies
- Cefic decides what is retained, updated, archived or deleted, and approves copy and technical data.
- New copy is written by Petrochemicals Europe. We support mapping, formatting and quality assurance.
Eight stages to an April launch
Dates assume mobilisation follows Board approval on 7 October 2026. Each stage ends with something you can see and sign off, not a status report.
Kick-off, stakeholder workshops, analytics and search-log review, success measures agreed.October 2026
Content inventory validated, audience journeys mapped, taxonomy rebuilt, content types defined.November 2026
Light identity refresh, wireframes for every template, component library and accessibility baseline.December 2026
Environments, CI/CD, templates and editor blocks built and reviewed in fortnightly demonstrations.January – February 2027
Approved content mapped and migrated, redirects implemented, metadata preserved.February – March 2027
WCAG 2.2 AA audit, vulnerability scan, performance targets measured, backup and restore demonstrated.March 2027
Editor training for three participants, recorded session, editor guide, written go-live approval.April 2027
Launch, monitoring, defect warranty begins and runs for twelve months.April – May 2027
Governance
- A named project manager as your single operational contact, with a maintained plan, decision log, risk and issue log and action register.
- Impacts on budget or timetable are raised before any out-of-scope work is undertaken.
- Buffer before launch. The April to May window carries contingency; we would not plan to land on the last available day.
You work with the people you meet
White Rabbit is a senior team by design. There is no layer between the people who present this proposal and the people who deliver it, and no handover to juniors after signature.
Strategy and account lead
Alberto Maccari, Brussels. Positioning, content strategy and creative direction. Present from discovery through to launch, and the person you deal with afterwards.
Design and information architecture
Handled in-house by the same people who present this proposal. Audience journeys, taxonomy, wireframes, identity refresh and the design system.
Development
Chalice, our development partner, disclosed as a subcontractor under section 11. WordPress architecture, build, testing and technical documentation.
Most of our clients are European associations, federations and organisations working across industry, policy and stakeholder communication. Several have been with us for years, which is the reference that matters more than any single case study. Relevant work is presented in full at interview, alongside the people who did it.
Section 11 · Subcontractors and third parties
- Chalice, development. European hosting provider, named at contract.
- Third-party services: Mailjet (existing), Google Analytics and Tag Manager, consent management platform, site search. All disclosed with licence status.
We have built this project before,
for associations like yours
Four pieces of work, all commissioned by Brussels-based European associations. Each one addresses a part of what you have described in the RFP. References available on request.
FERMA
Federation of European Risk Management Associations
A rebrand carried through into a new website: an interface written in the federation’s own voice, with a visual system that matches the revised identity rather than sitting beside it. The closest match to your brief, and a relationship that has continued since.
See the projectFERMA · Interactive report
Cyber security research, made navigable
Dense technical research turned into a responsive digital product that works on any device, without retiring the printed edition. It was used live across three days of debates and seminars. This is directly relevant to your publications and to the printed flowchart.
See the projectCAOBISCO
Association of Chocolate, Biscuit and Confectionery Industries of Europe
Fifteen member national associations, speaking for more than 12,700 manufacturers. A new visual identity with a logo facelift, and a website designed to hold three distinct industries inside one coherent structure. The same organisational shape as Petrochemicals Europe.
See the projectCIUS
Committee of European Sugar Users
A new website and members’ intranet built in WordPress, with navigation reorganised around how members actually search for material, and an extended testing and stabilisation phase before handover.
See the projectWhy these are the relevant references
- Same organisational shape. A small secretariat, a member base, a policy audience, and a board that has to approve the result.
- Same technical brief. WordPress, editor-managed, maintained by communicators rather than developers.
- Same underlying problem. Credible technical material that was not reaching the people it was written for.
Implementation
All figures in EUR excluding VAT, presented in the structure of Appendix B. Project management, meetings, travel and expenses are included. No work outside the agreed scope is charged without prior written approval.
Stakeholder workshops, audience priorities, content strategy, technical discovery.€ 7,810
Modernisation within your existing identity. No rebrand, per section 3.3.€ 2,550
Six templates, component library, accessibility baseline, responsive behaviour.€ 10,880
WordPress build, editor blocks, search, forms, Mailjet, flowchart order form.€ 19,210
Up to 60 pages and 40 publications with assets. Unit rate beyond, see assumptions.€ 2,805
Schema, sitemap, redirect map, GA4, GTM, consent mode, measurement plan.€ 3,740
WCAG 2.2 AA audit and remediation, vulnerability scan, GDPR and cookie configuration.€ 8,500
Editor training, recorded session, as-built documentation, source code and repository.€ 2,890
Named project manager, plan, decision log, risk register, fortnightly reporting.€ 7,500
Offer
- Valid 90 days from submission. Payment against delivery stages, terms to be agreed.
- Change requests at the role rates opposite, approved in writing before work begins.
- Indexation on recurring items at Belgian CPI, capped at 3% annually.
Recurring and optional
European hosting, quarterly updates, monitoring, backups with tested restores, annual service report. Twelve months, renewable.€ 5,000
40 prepaid hours per year, transparent timesheets, warning before the package is exhausted. Distinct from maintenance.€ 3,400
Site search and consent management. Quantities and renewal basis confirmed at discovery.to confirm
Discovery and prototype per VAL-01, including a recommendation on whether 3D is justified. Priced on confirmation of scope, given the separate reference expected.on request
Limited proof of concept per AI-05, grounded only in approved content, always citing the source page. Acceptance criteria agreed before any production commitment.€ 6,500to confirm
Role rates for change requests
- Concept and strategy: € 95 / hour
- UX, information architecture, visual design: € 85 / hour
- Development, accessibility, SEO/GEO, security: € 85 / hour
- Project management, support and maintenance: € 75 / hour
Exit and transition
On termination or expiry we hand over source code, data, configuration, credentials and documentation in usable form, and support transition to another supplier for up to twenty working days at the rates above. Nothing is withheld.
How it is paid
We propose one predictable monthly line rather than a handful of large invoices: the implementation budget divided across the months of delivery, and a single monthly figure after launch. The implementation total is a fixed price for the agreed scope, not a running estimate.
Rather than two or three large milestone invoices, the implementation fee is spread evenly across the months of the project and billed in arrears against the delivery stages in section 2. The instalment is fixed once the start date is confirmed, and does not change unless you approve a change request in writing.
European hosting, mandatory maintenance and a 40-hour annual support package, billed as one predictable line rather than per incident. The twelve-month defect warranty runs alongside it and never consumes these hours.
Anything added after launch, such as the interactive value chain, the AI assistant, additional support hours or a second language, is quoted separately and, where it makes sense, added to the monthly figure rather than invoiced as a lump sum. The intention is that Petrochemicals Europe carries one predictable line in the budget, before launch and after it.
Terms
- € 65,885 is a fixed price for the scope described, not a ceiling we expect to reach. Recurring costs are separate and begin only at go-live.
- Payment 30 days from invoice. Offer valid 90 days from submission.
- Indexation applies only to recurring items, at Belgian CPI capped at 3% annually.
What this price assumes
Stated openly, because a figure built on hidden assumptions is not comparable to anyone else's.
Assumptions
- Six templates and six editor blocks
- Migration of up to 60 pages and 40 publications
- Facts and figures as designed static visuals at launch
- English only; structure ready for translation
- WordPress roles as supplied; no approval workflow, per CMS-08
- Existing consent platform licence
- Continuity with Google Analytics
Dependencies
- New copy written and approved by Petrochemicals Europe
- Content audit outcome shared before migration begins
- Technical data for facts and figures supplied by Cefic
- Timely review at each stage gate
- Access to existing analytics and any internal research
Exclusions
- Full rebrand, per section 3.3
- Multilingual delivery at launch
- Member-only areas or extranet
- Copywriting and translation
- Photography and video production
- Value-chain implementation beyond prototype
- Third-party licence fees
Proposed changes to the RFP
- Migration volume agreed before contract. Section 6 already requires this; we suggest it is fixed at mobilisation with the unit rate above, so the figure stays comparable.
- Interactive value chain. Given the separate reference expected, we have not priced section 5.10 into this submission. We will respond in full when it is issued.
