About Local Roots Digital

Hi, I'm Michael.

I run Local Roots Digital from Ormesby, and I help small businesses around Teesside make their websites clearer, easier to trust, and simpler for a customer to act on.

I know how hard it is to run a business and still find the hours to sort the online side out. My job is to take that off your plate, not to make you feel behind.

Local to Teesside In IT since 1985 Building websites since 1998
Tell me about your business Why Local Roots exists

The story

Coming back to Middlesbrough shaped the business.

I grew up in Middlesbrough, spent more than 20 years over in Hartlepool, then came back home. While I was sorting some work on the house, I kept bumping into good local trades and small businesses: busy, genuinely skilled, and trusted by everyone who already knew them.

The trouble was usually the bit before that. Someone spots a van, hears a name, or finds the business on Facebook, and there just isn't enough online to feel sure about picking up the phone. That gap is the whole reason Local Roots Digital exists.

Will this person be easy to deal with?

That's the question a customer is quietly asking before they ever get in touch. Your website, Google profile, photos, reviews and wording should all add up to one answer: yes, this is a real person who can help.

Track record

Different websites, same basic job: make it clear, make it work.

Since 1998 I've built and looked after websites for public services, academic and clinical trials, publishers, directories, community projects and local businesses. The audiences kept changing. The habit that mattered never did: work out who the site is really for, then make their next step easier.

1985

Started in IT

Long before a website was something every business was expected to have.

1998

Started building websites

Through every shift in tools, devices, search habits and what customers came to expect.

2002

Managed council web presence

Where clear communication, reliable delivery and information people could actually use mattered every single day.

Now

Focused on small businesses

Practical websites, visibility and support for local businesses that just need the phone to ring.

Named work Past work includes Hartlepool Council and King's College London.
Breadth of experience Public services, academic and clinical trials, publishers, directories, community projects, and local businesses.
Website lifecycle Over more than 20 years, I've built sites that are still live today, and sites that did their job, ran their course, and were replaced when the need changed.
What goes into a review See the foundations behind every recommendation.

How I work

No agency maze. No disappearing after launch.

Local Roots Digital is small on purpose. You talk to me, I do the work, and I'm still here to look after it afterwards. That keeps the advice honest and the whole thing easy to follow.

No jargon

If something matters, I explain it in normal language.

No over-selling

If you don't need a bigger build, I'll tell you.

No vanishing act

If something needs changing down the line, you know exactly who to message.

You don't need to know exactly what you need yet.

Just tell me where your business is now and what feels unclear. I'll give you an honest view of what would help, what can wait, and what it's likely to cost.

Start with the business, not a list of services.

Tell me about your business
Call or text 07568 084161 Message on WhatsApp