Website DesignWe design great websites suitable for a variety of platforms to suit your business and budget.

Website DevelopmentWe build bespoke websites based on your needs, taking your small business to the next level.

Wordpress SupportWe offer fully managed Wordpress maintenance and hosting packages with 24/7 support.

Conversion OptimisationWe create conversion-first landing pages to get you more sign-ups, leads and paying customers.

Digital SupportWe created a free digital support platform, to help you access the tools you need when you need them.

Drinking CoffeeWe never underestimate the power of a morning coffee. Our local, Jim Beans, kick starts our day.

Darren Townsend - Founder & CEO

Champions small business 🏆, undiagnosed OCD, Dad of two beautiful boys.

Charlie Townsend - Founder & Director

Background in banking 👎, patience of a saint, Mum of two beautiful boys.

A very young Darren at his first business

Our Story

Having run small retail businesses for over 20 years, it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep up with "the big boys". They had access to digital tools that generated new customers for fun and made their lives easier - and we simply felt lost 🧭. We were frustrated, so decided to do something about it.We took our business online - and that opened up a whole new can of worms. While we picked up new customers, people who said they had never heard of us before, it was a whole new skill set that none of our team really had. We soon realised it was just as difficult getting people to our website as it was through the front door. Hmmmm....

So, there were a good few independent businesses around us, all struggling with the same issues. What if we could combine all these small businesses to become a super-powered beast 🧸(or something close)? We hatched (do beasts hatch?) a plan to build an independent marketplace - where small businesses could trade in unison online and get the exposure they so rightly deserved. Behold...... The Big Small Shop.Tragic name looking back 🤦. We thought "do your big shop, with small shops", but people would say "big little shop", "little big shop". Anyway, when the pandemic broke in 2020, the name really didn't matter. We had been trading a few months so were well poised to keep small businesses open during lockdown. There was nothing more rewarding than knowing our little idea was supporting so many local businesses and the community.

The Big Small Shop was born

Locally UK goes national

The only place to get toilet paper and pasta? The Big Small Shop - and all from local businesses. Small businesses rallied for their communities during lockdown, and were finally getting the recognition they deserved 💪. We were chuffed to be a part of it. Our little Wordpress website, built by one local guy, was causing a stir. From a tech side however, it was struggling, and we had no idea what we were doing. We were literally flying by the seat of our pants 🩲. We had to learn quickly, and were lucky that we found some super talented people that shared our ethos, and wanted to help.On came the rebrand - we were now Locally UK. A new custom website. A revived purpose.

With Locally UK now in full swing, and able to handle the technical pressure, we met the wonderful Sarah Hamilton - founder of the Just a Card campaign. This campaign aligned with us perfectly. Sarah had been shouting from the rooftops about the importance of supporting local, independent businesses for years - and we knew we had to work with them. We sponsored the Just a Card Indie Week campaign - a colourful alternative to Black Friday (the original alternative campaign 😉) and continued to gain exposure for small businesses across the country."Hi, this is Lexy from The Guardian...." - yeah right. Call me back. And she did (turns out it was legit, not just some scam caller). We couldn't believe it! The Guardian wanted to write a piece on Locally UK 🤯. And they ran it.

Just a Card - Indie Week

Neartoo - we now did tech?!?

The article featured a quote from Andrew Goodacre - CEO of The British Independent Retailers Association. He said they were looking at creating a similar platform for their 4,000+ members. S**T. Was our first thought. They had the scale to blow us out of the water. But what if (and it was a big IF, we were just a little company that started on the bedside table 😳) we could work with them to build it? A quick message to Andrew on LinkedIn to tell him a bit about us, and not only did he respond, but he put us in touch with Jeff - the Commercial Director of BIRA (these guys had been supporting independent businesses for over 100 years. The association, not the people). We had a great chat with Jeff, who asked us to send him a proposal. We were pitching against global tech giants to build the platform 🌍. We didn't just run an independent marketplace anymore - we were a tech team!

We did it. We actually did it 🎉. Within a few hours of sending our proposal, Jeff was on the phone to discuss the project in more detail, and over the next few months we created Neartoo - the UK's largest independent directory with over 350,000 businesses.We could now design, build, optimise and support in a way we never anticipated when we launched The Big Small Shop. And it was by sticking to our roots that made it all possible - so that is how we intend to continue.We are happily small tech ✌️. No Venture Capital or investors. We are customer funded and proudly bootstrapped - so we only answer to you (and the kids, obviously). Tech is so valuable to small business owners, but we know better than most that it's daunting as hell, too. Fear not, Locally UK is here 🦸

We are happily small tech

• What we do 🚀

• Our story 📖

• What people say 😄

• Meet the Founders 👋

• Contact us 📧