Every agency you speak to will tell you it depends. It does — but not so much that we can’t give you a number before you’ve spent an hour on a call. Here is what things actually cost with us, and what moves them up or down.
Two minutes from Gareth on why hiding cost behind a discovery call wastes everybody’s time — yours more than ours — and what you should actually be comparing when you get three quotes.
If you are gathering quotes right now, this is the video to watch first. It will tell you which questions separate a good proposal from an expensive one.
Gareth O’Rourke, Founder — filmed at Castle Mills, Kendal.
All retainers include strategy, delivery, monthly reporting and a call to interpret it. Initial term is three or six months depending on service, then rolling with 30 days’ notice.
One service done properly — usually SEO or paid media. Right for a business testing whether an agency relationship works before committing further.
per month, from · 3 month initial term
Two or three services working together, which is where most of our clients sit. Search and paid media in the same plan, measured against the same commercial target.
per month, from · 6 month initial term
An embedded team across everything, with fractional digital leadership at the top. For businesses that need a marketing function but not the headcount, National Insurance and recruitment risk.
per month, from · 6 month initial term
Priced on scope, quoted before we start, and not subject to change unless you change the brief. No hourly creep.
from · typically 8–12 weeks
from · typically 12–20 weeks
from · scope dependent
These are the six things that actually change a quote. If another agency’s number is very different from ours, one of these is usually why.
If your team can write to a brief, a retainer costs meaningfully less. If we are producing everything, that is real hours. Plenty of clients start with us writing and move to briefs later.
A site with solid technical foundations needs less remedial work before anything productive can start. Occasionally we will tell you to fix the site before buying marketing at all.
We do not charge a rush premium, but compressing a twelve-week build into eight means more people on it. That costs more and we will say so before you commit.
On websites it is the number of unique page templates, not pages. On marketing it is the number of channels, because each one carries its own reporting and creative overhead.
Booking engines, CRMs, ERP connections and bespoke functionality. These are where quotes diverge most, and where a cheap quote usually turns out to have excluded something.
Start with a free audit and find out what is currently being left on the table.
No houry creep on a flex - scope pro
No annual lock-in — rolling after the initial term
Every asset in your ownership from day one
No commission taken on your ad spend
No charge for reporting or review calls
We will tell you when you don't need us
Because hiding them wastes your time and ours. If our numbers are outside your budget you should know that in ninety seconds, not after two meetings and a proposal. And a business that will not tell you what something costs until it has you on a call is usually optimising for the call, not for you.
It is the honest floor, and some clients do pay it. Most sit somewhat above it because of the six factors above. What we will not do is quote the floor to get you interested and then present something double at proposal stage — the audit gives us enough to give you a real number.
No. Percentage-of-spend billing gives an agency a direct incentive to spend more of your money, which is a conflict we would rather not have. Paid media is a flat management fee agreed up front, regardless of what you spend.
We will tell you, in the monthly review, rather than restating the same slide. If a channel is not earning its fee we would rather move budget to one that is, or reduce the retainer, than keep invoicing for something that is not landing. Contracts roll monthly after the initial term for exactly this reason.
Yes, and most clients do. A free audit costs nothing. A one-off technical audit and roadmap is [ £x,xxx ] and gives you a plan you can execute yourself if you prefer. Several of our longest relationships started that way.
Yes, all figures exclude VAT. Retainers are invoiced monthly in advance; projects are typically 50% on commencement and 50% on launch, with larger builds split across agreed milestones.
Yes, all figures exclude VAT. Retainers are invoiced monthly in advance; projects are typically 50% on commencement and 50% on launch, with larger builds split across agreed milestones.
The free audit gives us enough to quote properly. No obligation, and the report is yours either way.