CHESTERFIELDAUTO
340BHP
POWER ESTIMATOR
Automotive / Interactive
Chesterfield Auto
Performance-led presentation with diagnostic content and interactive tools.
Websites designed and built by Sam
Small-business websites that look anything but small.
Custom design, thoughtful motion and clean development — without the agency price tag, the template feel or a big upfront gamble.
Real client build: Model Depot UK ecommerceView case study ↗£100simple build
£350+advanced / ecommerce
£30per month managed
£0build deposit
Web designEcommerceMotionSEO foundationsManaged hosting
Built for a customer · live at modeldepotuk.com
Model Depot UK. A real shop, built from scratch.
A live ecommerce website I designed and built for a UK model retailer selling plastic kits, paints, tools and accessories — brands including Tamiya, Airfix, Revell, Humbrol, Hasegawa, Aoshima and Eduard. Not a template, not a concept: a working store with its own admin panel.
What the store actually does
Every route a model builder needs, in one shop.
- Site search, Shop All, and browsing by department, brand and scale
- Kit Finder that narrows the live catalogue by department, manufacturer, scale, stock and budget
- Collector Hub, product comparison, saved kits, My Orders and order tracking
- Showcase gallery — “See what the kit can become”
- Fourteen modelling guides, from choosing a first kit to airbrushing and weathering
- Secure checkout powered by PayPal, with shipping, returns and terms pages
- Google Merchant Center product feed, Product and Breadcrumb structured data, GA4 ecommerce events
- A custom admin panel with multi-image staging, server-side image validation and stock control
Real work + selected concepts
Proof first.
Then the range.
Model Depot UK is a real live client build. Different businesses. Different design systems. These are working portfolio concepts built to show range — not fake client case studies. Open any demo and use it properly.
Featured case study / Ecommerce
Model Depot UK
A live UK model-shop ecommerce build with product search, saved items, customer orders, basket and checkout flows, category/brand/scale discovery, Kit Finder, Collector Hub, comparison, order tracking and an extensive modelling guide library.
Read the real case study ↗
I run a…
See the matching service ↗
Slow
mornings.
mornings.
HOUSE FAVOURITEHoney oat latte£4.20
Hospitality / Brand
Derbyshire Café
Warm editorial design focused on atmosphere, menu discovery and mobile visits.
24/7 RESPONSE
APEX
TRADES.
TRADES.
Trades / Lead generation
Apex Trades
Direct, confident and built around high-intent service enquiries.
NOVAOBJECTS / 26
Arc / 02£84
Form / 06£112
Ecommerce / Advanced
NOVA Objects
A more technical shop concept with product filters, variants, cart behaviour and micro-interactions.
Quality over quantity
A few things done properly.
I’m not trying to turn every website into an animation experiment. The job is to make your business feel credible, memorable and easy to buy from.
Design with a point
Strong hierarchy, custom layout and brand character — not effects for the sake of effects.
Motion that earns its place
Subtle reveals, useful feedback and a few memorable moments. Mobile stays light and smooth.
Built for real customers
Readable copy, obvious actions, responsive layouts and no tiny desktop UI squeezed onto phones.
Search-ready foundations
Semantic HTML, metadata, schema, crawl control, internal linking and performance are considered from the start.
Web design services
Pages built around what people actually search for.
I work with businesses across the UK, including Derbyshire and the surrounding region. Each service page below answers a different real requirement instead of repeating the same sales copy with swapped keywords.
01 / COREExplore business web design ↗
02 / ADVANCEDExplore ecommerce ↗
03 / LOCALExplore Derbyshire web design ↗
04 / TRADESExplore trades web design ↗
05 / REDESIGNExplore website redesign ↗
06 / CAREExplore managed care ↗
Business web design
Custom responsive websites from £100 on completion for straightforward brochure and lead-generation requirements.
Ecommerce web design
Online shops, payments, products, custom tools and integrations, with advanced builds from £350+.
Web design in Derbyshire
Website design for Derbyshire businesses that need clear local-service content, mobile enquiries and honest search foundations.
Websites for trades
Lead-focused sites for builders, electricians, plumbers, roofers and other service businesses.
Website redesign
Keep the useful content and identity while fixing outdated layouts, mobile friction, weak structure and technical debt.
Hosting & maintenance
Managed hosting, SSL, backups, security upkeep and routine supplied content changes for £30/month with a Websites by Sam build.
Simple pricing
Clear enough to understand in ten seconds.
Two clear starting points. No vague simple-site price hidden behind an enquiry.
01 SIMPLE WEBSITE
£100 build
For straightforward small-business websites that need to look sharp, explain the offer and generate enquiries.
- Custom responsive design
- Core SEO foundations
- Contact / enquiry flow
- £0 build deposit
+ £30/monthmanaged hosting + routine updates
Start simple ↗
02 ADVANCED / ECOMMERCE
£350+ build
For shops, custom tools, booking flows, integrations, larger content structures or more ambitious interaction.
- Ecommerce and product catalogues
- Custom calculators / tools
- API or service integrations
- More advanced UX and motion
+ £30/monthmanaged hosting + routine updates
Discuss advanced ↗
The £30/month covers managed hosting, SSL, backups, security upkeep and routine supplied content changes. New pages, major redesigns, custom features, domain registration and paid third-party services are separate unless agreed in your project scope.
Not sure which lane?
Scope it in thirty seconds.
Tick what the site needs. You get the honest starting lane straight away, and the brief is pre-filled for you when you enquire. Nothing here is a quote — the exact build price is agreed before any work starts.
Why Websites by Sam
A simpler way to get a serious website.
You deal directly with the person designing and building the site. The process is deliberately low-risk: see a working private concept, refine it, approve it, then pay the agreed build fee before launch.
See a real client build ↗One person from brief to launch.
No sales hand-off and no layers of account management. The person you speak to is the person doing the work.
See the concept before the build fee.
For the standard process there is no build deposit. You can see a private working concept first, then the agreed build fee is due after approval and before launch.
Real work alongside the concepts.
Model Depot UK is a live ecommerce client project. Demo builds stay clearly labelled as concepts, so you can tell proof from experimentation.
The technical side stays managed.
The £30/month service covers managed hosting, SSL, backups, security upkeep and routine supplied content changes, with larger changes scoped separately.
The person behind the work
Hi, I’m Sam. I design it, build it and look after it.
Websites by Sam is one independent designer-developer, not an agency with a sales team. I work remotely with businesses across the UK, including Derbyshire, and I write the code myself — from the design system and motion down to the forms, hosting and search foundations.
That is why the process can be low-risk: there is no deposit, you see a private working concept before paying, and the person who answers your WhatsApp is the person who built the site.
Free website check
Already have a site?
Run a quick diagnostic.
Paste a public homepage and the checker will look for useful technical, search and usability signals. No account, no card and no signup wall.
See how I approach SEO ↗Checking your homepage…HTTPS · metadata · mobile signals · structure
Couldn’t scan that page.
Check the URL and try again.
How it works
Simple for you.
Detailed behind the scenes.
Send me the basics.
Your business, current site or socials, what you need and anything you like visually.
I build the concept.
You see a private working version before paying the agreed build fee.
Refine, approve, launch.
I make it feel right, connect the domain, launch it and keep the technical side managed.
Useful before you buy
Make a better website decision before spending anything.
Plain-English guides covering cost, redesigns and local search. They are here to answer the questions businesses usually have before starting a project.
PRICING GUIDE
What should a website cost in the UK?
A practical breakdown of what changes the price and what you should expect at different levels of complexity.
Read the website cost guide ↗ REDESIGN CHECKLISTDoes your current website actually need replacing?
Work through the signs that point to a redesign, and the things worth preserving when the existing site still has value.
Open the redesign checklist ↗ LOCAL SEARCHLocal SEO basics for a business website.
The practical foundations that help search engines understand what you do, where you serve and which pages matter.
Read the local SEO guide ↗Straight answers
Before you send anything.
The pricing and process should be understandable before you enquire. These are the same answers represented in the site’s structured data, so the visible page and machine-readable information stay consistent.
Is the £100 website actually £100?
For a straightforward small-business website, the build fee is £100, paid when the finished concept is approved. Managed hosting and routine updates are £30 per month. More technical projects start from £350.
What counts as an advanced website?
Ecommerce stores, custom calculators, booking systems, member areas, API integrations, larger catalogues and unusually complex interactive experiences generally start from £350.
What does the £30 per month cover?
Managed hosting, SSL, backups, security upkeep and routine supplied content changes. New pages, major redesigns, custom features, domain registration and paid third-party services are separate unless agreed in the project scope.
Do I pay anything before seeing it?
The standard process has no build deposit. A private concept is created first and the agreed build fee is due after approval and before launch.
Start a project
Tell me what you do.
I’ll make it look the part.
You don’t need a polished brief. A business name, rough goal and a few references are enough to start.
WhatsApp+44 7951 792223↗ Emailinfo@websitesbysam.uk↗