A new studio. Not new work.
Jay Costen is a new studio. The work isn’t.
I’ve spent the last eighteen months shipping my own things — PriceScout, a UK price-comparison tool that’s live now; Bytelore, a microlearning subscription; a lead-capture site for a Utility Warehouse partnership. All built solo, all live, all with payment systems, hosting, SSL, the lot. I wanted to know what shipping a real product actually costs in attention before I sold that service to anyone else.
The first build I’m doing for someone else is a Manchester tattoo studio — Doodleboi Ink, for Morgan Fevre, my mate. Once that ships, Jay Costen becomes the chapter where I do this for clients too.
Why Beverley.
I live here. It’s a market town in East Yorkshire, twenty thousand people, a minster, one racecourse, more independent shops than you’d expect. The pace is the right pace for considered work — fast enough that the town has a real economy, slow enough that I can actually think before I write.
Most boutique web studios in the UK are in London, Manchester, Brighton. Being in Beverley is a feature, not a constraint — lower rent, no commute, calmer focus, and a postcode that reads honest. The site will be built here. The wifi will work everywhere else.
Why a new studio.
The honest answer: I’ve always preferred building to advising. After the eighteen months of own-products work I knew two things. One — I can ship a real website in five working days with infrastructure that doesn’t embarrass me. Two — most small businesses in the UK are stuck choosing between a £3,000-and-up agency and a £150 Fiverr template. The middle is empty. Jay Costen is the middle.
The dog.
Arwyn is fourteen weeks old, female, a cocker spaniel, wears a red Viva harness. She’s in the workshop every day. She is a permanent character of this studio, not a marketing prop. If you come over to brief me, you’ll meet her.
What I’m currently doing.
Reading How Buildings Learnby Stewart Brand for the third time. Listening to whatever Marina Herlop’s put out lately. Building Doodleboi Ink’s website. Drafting the first Site of the Month critique. Walking Arwyn twice a day on the Westwood whether the rain’s on or not.
How to start something with me.
The Startpage has a short brief intake and a Stripe deposit link. If you’d rather talk first, my email is hi@jaycosten.co.uk. No automated funnel, no “book a discovery call.” A person reads your email and a person writes back.
— Jay