About — Run by Sean Inglis, Ampleforth
Small by design.
Copper Lane is a one-person web design studio in Ampleforth, North Yorkshire, built on twelve years of work with trades, service businesses, and small companies. You email me, you get me — no account handlers, no being passed around.
Sean Inglis
Founder, designer, and developer
Twelve years building websites for small businesses, now full time at Copper Lane in Ampleforth. Works with trades, service businesses, and local companies across North Yorkshire and beyond.
Why this exists.
I am Sean. Copper Lane is a small web design studio in Ampleforth, in the Howardian Hills. The studio is just me — you email me, you get me, and there is no account manager, junior designer, or sub-contractor in between.
I have been building websites for around twelve years, alongside a long career in operational management. Over those years I have built sites for plumbers, electricians, funeral directors, mechanics, joiners, roofers, cleaners, hauliers, bars and restaurants, retail shops moving online, construction firms, and a few artists. Different trades, the same job each time: a clear, professional site that explains the business, works on a phone, and makes it easy for customers to get in touch.
A few years ago I developed a heart condition, which made me think hard about how I wanted to spend my working time. Web design has always been the part of my career I love most. I moved from Scotland to England to be closer to my children, who live down here, and Copper Lane is the studio I have built around that life. It gives me the time to be near my kids and the chance to do the work I should have been doing all along.
This is not a side project or a stepping stone back to something else. The launch pricing reflects a new studio building its first North Yorkshire portfolio — not a new designer. The skill behind the work has been twelve years in the making, and I am not going anywhere.
'A small business website should look professional, explain the offer clearly, and make the next step obvious. Twelve years of doing this has only made me believe that more.'
WHAT WE BELIEVE.
01
A site should earn its keep.
It should help customers understand the business and take the next step, not just sit online looking finished.
02
Local search matters.
Trades and small businesses win work when customers nearby can find them, trust them, and contact them quickly.
03
Simple is usually better.
Most businesses need clear pages, a fast site, and good contact routes before they need complex features.
04
Honest beats clever.
Copy does not need to sound expensive to work. It needs to be accurate, direct, and useful.
THINGS WE WON’T BUDGE ON.
Boundaries keep affordable work clear.
- 01
Clear scope before work starts. Pages, revisions, timescales, and costs are all written down before a single thing is built.
- 02
Mobile first, because that is where most local customers will find you.
- 03
Basic SEO foundations from day one: page titles, metadata, local signals, speed, and sensible structure.
- 04
Plain English copy. No inflated agency language and no vague promises.
- 05
Honest advice when a simpler option is enough — even when it costs me work.
- 06
You always talk to me. No account handlers, no being passed around, no sub-contracting it out.
- 07
Care after launch if you want hosting, support, and small changes handled properly.
Why the studio stays small.
The studio is one person on purpose. Twelve years of building websites alongside a corporate career taught me that small businesses don't need an agency — they need a designer who will pick up the phone, write back the same day, and make the decisions themselves.
That means clear launch pricing, simple website packages, and an optional monthly care plan. If you need more than the package includes, I'll quote it before the work starts. No vague extras, no surprise invoice, no pretending a £250 website includes everything a larger project would.
Twelve years of work. One person looking after yours. That is the whole point.
NO BLACK BOX.
Every project has a plain client view: decisions, blockers, next actions, launch checks, and what is waiting on whom.
Websites from £250 and care plans from £19/month.
START A PROJECT.
Tell me what kind of site you need. I come back within a working day with a clear price, scope, and next step — straight from me, the person who’ll be doing the work.