by business editor Trevor Sturgess

Chatham Historic Dockyard's new website has scooped a top design award.

The website was created by Netsite, a Chatham company that saw off regional rivals to win the Best Website category in the Chartered Institute of Public Relations PRide Awards.

Netsite designed the dockyard's previous website and was asked to come up with a fresh design to reflect its new corporate identity.

The aim was to make it easy for tourists to plan and make the most of their visit to the popular attraction which, with its unique mix of ships, museums and maritime displays has become one of the south east's biggest draws.

Netsite's content management system Zestos was built into the site to enable the dockyard's marketing and PR team to edit and update the site quickly and easily.

Anthony Morse, the dockyard's marketing manager, said: "Winning this award is great news.

"The Netsite team worked really hard on this project and it's great for them to get this recognition.

"We are really pleased with the new site http://www.thedockyard.co.uk/ and think it gives potential visitors an excellent introduction to our amazing maritime heritage site."

Netsite's managing director Paul Duthoit added: "We are delighted to win such a prestigious award and very proud of our work for The Historic Dockyard Chatham.

"There is so much on offer that it was essential to showcase the different aspects of the attraction with a well-designed website."

Jane Wilson, CIPR chief executive, said: "The CIPR PRide Awards are a celebration of PR achievement and a showcase of work implemented by the best of the best from across the UK."