Websites built with the precision of cut stone.
We design and build websites for independent shops, trades, and small consultancies — from one-off audits to full custom platforms with payments, memberships and AI-assisted tools built in.
The other ways to get a website — and what actually happens
Most independent businesses land on one of three routes before they find someone like us. Here's the honest version of each.
Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy
Cheap to start, but you're fighting a template every evening, and however you slice it the result still looks like a template. When it breaks, it's you against a help centre.
Hand-built from scratch — no page-builder, no drag-and-drop scaffolding underneath. What you see is what was actually coded for your business.
Fiverr, PeoplePerHour, "my nephew"
Cheap upfront and fine right up until the site needs a change — then the person who built it has moved on, there's no hosting in place, and nobody answers.
Based in the North East, and you can actually get hold of us — with a paid maintenance plan on offer so nothing's left to rot once it's live.
Account managers, discovery workshops
Long meetings, slower turnarounds, and a bill that assumes you've got a marketing department behind you. Small businesses get the graduate on the account.
No account manager, no discovery workshop, no three-week wait for a proposal — you talk directly to us, the same team who run Stonehouse Aquatics day to day. Every meeting an agency sits you through is time you're paying for, one way or another.
Same price bracket, different way of working
Most web design at this price point is built the same way — a drag-and-drop template, handed over, and never looked at again. Here's what's actually different about working with us.
Hand-coded, not drag-and-drop
Most sites at this price are built in Wix, Squarespace or a page-builder theme. Every line of yours is actually coded for your business, not slotted into someone else's template.
We don't disappear after launch
Most designers at this price build the site, take payment, and move on to the next client. We offer an ongoing maintenance plan so yours keeps being looked after, not left to rot.
Security watched, not ignored
Uptime, SSL and security headers monitored every month as a proper add-on service — something almost nobody offering sites at this price actually does.
Real, live proof
Not a mockup or a stock template preview — an actual platform we built and still run ourselves, that you can visit right now.
Three ways to work together
Start small with an audit, go straight to a full custom build, or keep an existing site properly looked after with an ongoing maintenance plan.
Website Audit
The easiest way to find out if your current site is actually costing you business — no commitment beyond the report itself. A plain-English list of what's wrong and what to fix first, no jargon, no upsell pressure, and no obligation to book anything bigger afterwards.
- Speed & Core Web Vitals
- Mobile-friendliness & tap targets
- SEO basics — titles, headings, alt text, sitemap
- Broken links, images, and forms
- Accessibility & security checks
One-off report, delivered in 3–5 days
This site is built lean on purpose — once it's live, you're welcome to check it yourself on Google PageSpeed Insights.
Full Custom Build
For businesses ready for something bigger — a fully bespoke site or web app with real commerce, membership, and AI-assisted tools built in, not bolted on.
- Online payments & checkout (Stripe)
- Membership tiers & recurring subscriptions
- Human-reviewed AI-assisted deliverables — reports, plans, recommendations
- Progressive Web App — installable, works offline
Free scoping call first
Website Maintenance
Ongoing content care for a site that's already live — for sites Whinstone Digital built, or any other site once it's been through a paid audit first and any fixes it flags have been brought up to standard, so the starting condition is actually known before a monthly rate is agreed. This covers keeping your content current — for uptime, SSL and security monitoring, see Security Monitoring below, which is a separate plan.
- Broken-link & content-health checks
- 2–3 small content changes per month — text edits, image swaps, price or detail updates
- Unused changes don't roll over to the next month
- Anything bigger than a small change is quoted separately at £30/hr, agreed before work starts
Whinstone-built sites only, or any site after a paid audit and any flagged fixes, quoted separately, are completed first — please get in touch before subscribing if that's not you yet.
Security Monitoring
Website hardening and monitoring — closing the obvious doors most small sites leave open, and keeping watch for the rest. Starts with a free scan report; no obligation to book anything beyond it. This is the only plan that covers uptime, SSL and header monitoring — Maintenance above handles your content instead.
- Uptime, SSL-certificate expiry & security-header monitoring
- Malware & blacklist monitoring (Full plan)
- Automated monthly re-scan, quarterly manual review on Full
- Fixes — headers, 2FA, backups, firewall — quoted separately
What "full custom" actually means
These aren't sales bullet points — every one of these has already been built and shipped on a live site.
Add-ons for any project size
A few of the things already built and shipped — the full list, including AI tools and paid deliverable systems, lives on its own page.
Request-a-callback pop-up
Visitor leaves their number instead of hunting for yours — triggered by scroll or exit-intent, so it never feels like nagging.
Online payments
Stripe checkout for one-off purchases and recurring subscriptions, built in properly from the start.
Booking & appointment scheduling
Real calendar logic, not just a contact form pretending to be one.
AI Brain / smart assistant
Rules-based recommendations tailored to what a customer actually tells you, human-reviewed before delivery.
Logo & branding package
A simple logo, a real colour palette, and font pairings — for anyone starting without a brand to build the site around.
Digital blueprint / paid deliverable service
A paid, structured report your customers can buy — they submit details, AI drafts it, a person checks it before delivery.
Not sure what you need?
Tell us a bit about your business and we'll come back with an exact price and timeline — no guesswork on either side.
From enquiry to launch, no guesswork
The same process behind every quote on this page — nothing added later that wasn't agreed upfront.
Tell us about your business
A short questionnaire — what you need, what you've already got, and your timeline.
Get a fixed price back
A real number and a realistic delivery date — no "it depends" and no vague estimate.
Agree and pay a deposit
A short written agreement, half upfront — everything included in the price is written down.
We build, you review
Two rounds of revisions included as standard, so nothing feels rushed or final too early.
Launch, in your name
Domain and final files are yours. Ongoing care is optional, never locked in.
Built, not mocked up
A look at what's actually live — and what's coming next.
Stonehouse Aquatics
The problemGeneric e-commerce templates can't handle live animals — species compatibility, tank requirements and care guidance need real logic behind them, not just a product grid. Hobbyists were left piecing advice together from scattered forums, with no single place that actually knew what they were keeping.
What was built- Interactive "Worlds" explorer — pick a real habitat (Amazon Basin, Lake Malawi, Coral Reef and more) and get a full stocking plan and equipment basket for it
- Custom species, breeding and disease databases, built from scratch
- Installable PWA with offline support for care guides
- Stripe-powered membership tiers (Foundation / Cornerstone / Keystone)
- Human-reviewed, AI-assisted aquarium design services
A working platform from day one, not a proof of concept — real paying members, real species data, real recommendations, live right now.
Visit stonehouseaquatics.co.uk →
Real screenshot of the live site, captured directly from stonehouseaquatics.co.uk.
Human-reviewed, AI-assisted design services
Real paid services live on Stonehouse Aquatics right now — proof this isn't a sales pitch. AI helps draft the structure; a person checks it before it ever reaches the customer.
Aquarium Blueprint
A practical written specification for an aquarium being planned or improved — tank, livestock, filtration and equipment route.
Custom Aquarium Design
A full design built around the customer's actual room, budget, livestock and visual goal, with one revision included.
Progress Review
A structured review of how a system has developed since setup — what's improved, and what needs attention next.
Expert Review & Strategy
The full-system review plus a 12-month improvement roadmap — priorities, risks and upgrade timing laid out clearly.
Cornerstone Safety Consulting
The problemA brand-new consultancy needed to look established from day one — and had no way to track enquiries beyond a personal inbox. Every new lead risked getting lost, forgotten, or left waiting days for a reply, before the business had even properly started.
What was built- Client Centre portal — clients log in to track enquiry status and view case updates
- Booking & appointment scheduling, with calendar invite (.ics) downloads for both client and admin
- Payment system — Stripe-powered invoicing, sent and paid straight through the portal
- Helpdesk-style case updates — a client-visible thread on every case, separate from internal admin notes
- Automated, branded confirmation emails the moment an enquiry lands, with a live status reference number
- Dedicated Fire Risk Assessments and Martyn's Law guidance pages, kept plain-English and jargon-free
- Own domain, own Cloudflare account, fully handed over and self-contained
Every enquiry now gets an automatic branded confirmation within seconds, with a live reference number the client can check anytime — nothing falls through the cracks, and nothing needs chasing by hand. Originally scoped as a 5-page site, expanded to 7 mid-build once Tim saw what he actually needed — no restart, no argument, just adjusted.
Visit cornerstonescl.co.uk →
Real screenshot of the live site, captured directly from cornerstonescl.co.uk.
Two sites. One shared skillset.
Every row below is a feature that's actually live on a real client's site right now, not a pitch, a screenshot away on either one.
| Capability | Stonehouse Aquatics | Cornerstone Safety Consulting |
|---|---|---|
| Custom database, not a page-builder | ✓ | ✓ |
| Stripe-powered payments | ✓ | ✓ |
| Member / client login & portal | ✓ | ✓ |
| Membership & subscriber tiers | ✓ | — |
| Installable app (PWA) | ✓ | — |
| AI-assisted tools, human-reviewed | ✓ | — |
| Paid digital deliverables | ✓ | — |
| Booking & calendar scheduling | — | ✓ |
| Automated branded emails | — | ✓ |
| Helpdesk-style update threads | — | ✓ |
Built by people who run one too
We're a North East England-based web design practice. Every site is designed and built directly by us — no account managers, no outsourcing, no templates dressed up as custom work.
Stonehouse Aquatics isn't just a portfolio piece — it's a real business, run day to day, with the same pressures any small business owner deals with: budgets, deadlines, and customers who expect things to just work. That's the perspective every client project gets built with.
Judge us on what's real
One real client review so far — here's what else you can check for yourself besides.
Alex provided a prompt, professional service, building a site that captured exactly what we needed — including a callback and enquiry system with mail notifications and unique references so we can track leads and update progress on queries. Very happy with the level of service and communication throughout.
Tim, Director — Cornerstone Safety Consulting LtdTwo real, live case studies
Visit stonehouseaquatics.co.uk or cornerstonescl.co.uk yourself — real, live sites, not mockups or stock templates.
A real screenshot, not a design
Both previews on this page are actual captured screenshots of the live sites, not designs.
No agency runaround
You talk directly to us — no account manager, no discovery workshop, no three-week wait for a proposal. Time saved is money saved.
Every feature has already shipped
Payments, memberships, AI tools — all live somewhere real before ever being offered to a client.
More reviews and case studies land here as new projects ship — get in touch and yours could be next.
Before you get in touch
A few honest answers — if yours isn't here, just ask.
You do, completely. The domain is registered in your name from day one, and you own the final design and content once paid in full — nothing is held hostage.
Two rounds of revisions are included as standard on every build. If you're on a Website Maintenance plan afterwards, that includes 2–3 small changes each month instead. Anything beyond either of those is billed at a clear hourly rate, agreed upfront.
No. We handle hosting, setup, and the technical side — you approve the design and content, and use the finished site.
Ask anyway. Most things are possible — get in touch and we'll give you a straight answer and a proper price, not a guess.
It depends on size and how quickly your content is ready — you'll get a realistic date as part of your fixed quote, not a vague estimate.
Tell us about your business
Whether it's a quick audit or a full rebuild, the first conversation is free and there's no pressure to commit. Fill in as much of the quote builder below as you like — the more you tick, the more accurate the first reply.
"Email my quote request" opens your own email app with everything filled in — nothing is sent from this page directly.