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Custom websites and applications

Web developer in the Scottish Borders

Some businesses need a good-looking website. Others need a website that takes an order, organises a booking, accepts a payment or gives the owner a useful admin screen. I design the pages, but I also develop the working parts behind them.

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Choose the right job

What a web developer does that a web designer doesn't

A web designer decides how information should be arranged: the layout, type, colour, photographs and the route a visitor takes towards an enquiry. That is valuable work. If a business only needs to explain what it does and make it easy to call, a well-designed page may be all that is required.

Development starts where the page has to apply rules. An order needs collection or delivery choices, a booking needs the right details, a card payment has to reach the correct account, and an admin panel must let the owner change information without breaking the public site. Those jobs are not a different shade of template. They are logic, data and working code.

The useful question is not which title sounds more impressive. It is what your website must do after somebody taps the button. If the answer is simply “show my work and let them contact me”, design may be enough. If the answer contains a process, the project needs a developer too.

Design gives the visitor a clear route

Development makes the route work: forms reach the right place, orders follow the right rules, payments are handled and the owner has the controls needed afterwards.

Real client work

Applications already running for Borders businesses

The distinction matters because these are not demonstration features. The two projects below began with practical business problems and now run as live client websites.

Adam's Kitchen, Hawick

Marketplace commission was being taken from each order. The build was a full website with a commission-free ordering application for collection and delivery, scheduled preorders, kitchen ticket printing and an admin panel. Orders placed through the restaurant's own site now go directly to Adam's Kitchen without marketplace commission.

The application also gives the restaurant control over its menu and opening hours. Card payments go to the restaurant's Stripe account, while orders reach the kitchen terminal and remain visible from the admin area.

Read how the ordering app works Visit Adam's Kitchen

Tomek Turlej Tattoo

The booking conversation had been happening entirely through Instagram messages. The solution combines a portfolio containing more than 240 pieces, an online booking-request process and a private admin dashboard.

A prospective customer can look through the work before sending the structured information needed for a request. That removes much of the repeated messaging involved in arranging a slot while leaving the studio with a clear enquiry to handle.

Visit Tomek Turlej Tattoo

The build underneath

How the sites are built, and why that matters to you

Each site is designed around the business from scratch rather than being a recycled template. The published service includes mobile-first work, testing on real devices, fast loading, secure hosting with SSL and the technical structure needed for local search.

For the owner, the important part is control. Website packages have a one-off price and there is no compulsory monthly plan. You receive the source files and own the website, domain and content. If you want hosting, monitoring, backups and content changes handled, care plans are available; if you do not, ownership of the site does not change.

No account manager in the middle

I design and build the work myself. You deal directly with the person making the site, from the first conversation through to launch.

A practical test

When you need a developer rather than a template

A developer earns a place in the budget when the website has to carry out a business process, not merely describe one. That may mean taking direct orders or card payments, managing a booking diary, collecting a structured quote request, giving a customer a login, maintaining stock information, or providing an admin area for the owner.

It also matters when ownership changes the economics. Adam's Kitchen needed ordering on its own website so the business could avoid marketplace commission, hold its own customer relationship and manage orders directly.

When a simple page is the honest answer

If people only need to understand the service, see convincing work and contact you, a custom application would be unnecessary. The One-Page Local Launch covers that smaller job with a contact form, WhatsApp and basic search setup. It is listed on the pricing page rather than being dressed up as a larger system.

Published numbers

What it costs

The current One-Page Local Launch is £249. For businesses needing several pages, the three package figures are £399, £729 and £1,345; the right level depends on size and features. Online shops run from £645 to £1,535, while the restaurant ordering application starts at £1,045. A booking system is listed from £250 as an add-on.

Every project receives a fixed quote before work begins. A 50% deposit books the project and the remaining half is due at launch. Care plans are optional, starting at £25 per month.

See every package Read the full cost guide

Fixed before the build starts

The quote is based on the agreed scope, so the price is known before a deposit is paid. The finished site and its source files belong to the client.

Based in Kelso

Where I work

Cheviot Web Studio is based in Kelso. I work across the region, including web design in Galashiels, web design in Hawick, web design in Melrose and web design in Jedburgh.

The wider service area includes web design in Peebles, web design in Selkirk, web design in Duns, web design in Coldstream and web design in Eyemouth, as well as web design in Berwick-upon-Tweed and north Northumberland. Most project work can happen by phone, WhatsApp and email, while the Kelso base keeps the studio rooted in the Borders.

Straight answers

The things people usually ask

What's the difference between a web designer and a web developer?

A web designer concentrates on how a site looks and how a visitor moves through it. A web developer turns that plan into working code and handles the logic behind ordering, payments, bookings and admin screens. Small business projects often need both disciplines, and one person may do both jobs.

Do I need a developer, or would a Squarespace site do?

If you only need a clear page with your services, contact details and a way to enquire, a simple site may be the sensible choice. When the site must process orders, take payments, manage bookings or give you an admin area, you need development work as well as design.

Can you take over a website someone else built?

Yes. Redesigns and refreshes are part of the service. A slow, dated or difficult-to-edit site can be rebuilt while keeping the material that still works, improving the rest and setting up redirects so existing Google rankings are protected. The right scope depends on what is worth retaining.

Do I own the code you write?

You do. The website, domain and content are yours outright, including the full source files. There is no lock-in, so you can take everything to another developer later. An optional care plan can cover hosting, security, backups and changes, but ownership does not depend on taking one.

How long does a custom build take?

A standard business website follows the Borders Website Sprint: ten working days between kick-off and launch, with the first design concept provided in 48 hours. The One-Page Local Launch can be completed inside a week. Restaurant ordering work is scheduled after the menu is reviewed, so that project receives an agreed timeline.

Tell me what the website needs to do

Send me the practical job you need the site to handle. I will reply with a homepage plan and a fixed price, normally on the same day.

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