Independent digital advice
About to spend serious money on a website, platform or digital idea? We help organisations work out what they actually need, what it should really cost and who should build it, before anyone signs anything.
Founder with an idea you keep coming back to? Start here.
Experience
Over 25 years in digital, from running agencies to working client side. The work ranges from one-person start-ups to global brands, and the thinking is the same at either end.
Including work for Aston Martin, Vodafone, Apple, Disney, Goldsmiths, University of London and the University of Oxford.
Most of our work starts well before there’s a finished brief.
We rather enjoy the messy stage.
We’ve got a budget, but nobody’s quite sure why it’s that number.
That’s an itch worth scratching
We’ll work out what it should really cost, and why.
We know we need a new website, but we’re not ready to brief agencies.
That’s an itch worth scratching
We’ll turn it into a brief several agencies can quote on, so you can compare them properly.
Three proposals. Three completely different prices.
That’s an itch worth scratching
We’ll unpick the jargon so you can put them side by side and compare like with like.
Our digital project is drifting.
That’s an itch worth scratching
We’ll find out where it has gone off track and get it moving again.
I think AI could help, but I don’t know where to start.
That’s an itch worth scratching
We’ll find where it would genuinely help, and where it wouldn’t.
I’ve had this idea for ages.
That’s an itch worth scratching
Let’s work out whether the idea has legs before you invest more time and energy in it.
Pick whichever feels closest.
Three examples
From £10k to £250k. The pattern is usually the same.
A training provider
A training provider had been told it would cost at least £10k to get their courses online. We looked at what they actually needed, found tools that already did most of the job, and stayed close while they set it up. The whole thing came to £7k including our fee, and worked better than the original plan.
A charity
A charity had set aside £50k for a new digital platform, but nobody had really worked out why it needed to cost that much. After a few days working through what they actually needed, they went to market with a clear brief, chose the right agency and spent £26k on something that did the job better.
A university
A university had budgeted around £250k for a digital transformation project, but the brief was thin, little more than a set of wireframes. We helped them define what they really needed and find a well-matched agency they hadn’t even considered. The right fit, for £100k less.
That’s the kind of work we enjoy most: a small amount of thinking, early, saving a lot of money later.
Four stages. Some clients need all of them. Many only need one or two.
Get to the bottom of what’s really driving the idea or project.
Talk to users, look at the numbers and check the assumptions that matter.
Turn it into a clear brief with a realistic scope and budget.
Find the right delivery partner and stay on your side while they build.
Most people start small. We can lean in as much or as little as you need.
Focused pieces of work
When something needs proper investigation.
We don’t take referral fees or commissions from agencies, developers or technology providers, and we don’t earn more if your project gets bigger.
So our advice can be straightforward, even when that means building less, testing something smaller first, or not doing it at all.
If anything, our incentive runs the other way. The money we save you is what justifies our fee.
Tell us what’s on your mind. You don’t need a finished brief or a budget. A few rough thoughts are plenty.
Start a conversationNo obligation and no sales pitch. Just a useful first chat.
