Manchester has no shortage of web design agencies. There are hundreds of them, and most do good work. The trouble is, they're built for bigger clients. If you're a shop on a side street, a sole trader working from home, or a small cafe with five tables, you're not really their target market. You'll get quoted thousands for something built on a template, and the account manager will move on to the next project before your site is even live.
I'm Laurence. I'm based in Ramsbottom, about thirty minutes north of the city centre. I work with small businesses. That's not a niche I fell into by accident. It's who I choose to work with, because I think small businesses deserve properly built websites at honest prices.
Everything I build is hand-coded. No WordPress, no Squarespace, no page builders. Just clean, fast HTML and CSS written specifically for your business. And because I don't have an office on Deansgate or a team of fifteen people to pay, my prices reflect the work, not the postcode.
A professional hand-coded website starts at £499 one-off. If you'd rather not pay it all at once, fully managed websites start from £30 a month, which includes hosting, SSL, and ongoing support. You get a site that loads quickly, looks right on every device, and is built to rank well in Google. No surprises, no ongoing costs you didn't agree to.
For businesses that want to handle customer enquiries outside of working hours, I build AI chatbots trained on your specific business. Not a generic widget. Something that actually knows what you do, what you charge, and when you're open. From £199 setup and £20 a month.
I also set up Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft 365 from £8 a month per user. Professional email, properly managed. And for businesses that want to appear in local Google results, I run local SEO campaigns from £199 setup and £20 a month.
Agencies are great when you need a large team working on a complex project. But most small businesses don't need that. They need one reliable person who knows what they're doing, builds things properly, and is still around when something needs changing six months later. That's what I do.
There's no discovery phase, no wireframing workshop, no three rounds of stakeholder feedback. You tell me what you need. I build it. If you want changes, you call me and I make them. It's straightforward because it should be.
If you need IT support, that starts from £65 an hour remotely. I can visit Manchester premises when needed, with onsite callouts from £85. But web design, email, and hosting are all remote anyway, so location doesn't really come into it.
If you're a small business in Manchester looking for someone who'll actually pick up the phone, I'd be glad to hear from you.