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About

Whettle is Tim.

Based near Lichfield, making websites and sorting out the digital behind them for small businesses across the Midlands.

I've been online since 1992, and I started my first business in 2009, selling reptile supplies to keepers and businesses across the UK.

Since then I've spent sixteen years looking after digital for all sorts of organisations: a walking tour company in 18 cities, a group of colleges, a professional body for the construction industry, a children's hospice and a training company.

The part I always enjoyed most was making a website that properly fits the people behind it, then keeping it working. Whettle is that, for small businesses like the one I started with.

Away from a screen I'm a keen hiker and mountaineer, a qualified diver and drone pilot, and a competent woodworker.

Tim, smiling, in glasses and a pale pink shirt
Tim Cawood

Why Whettle

To bring a bit of joy back to the internet.

The web has gone samey. AI builders have made generic sites cheap, and you can spot one at a glance: the same layouts, the same gradients, the same voice.

We use the same modern tools to do the opposite: sites that look made by someone, for your business, and that are fun to visit. The sheep on this site are one small example.

How we work

What you can count on.

  1. Made for you, not from a template

    The groundwork is shared, so all the time goes on what makes your site yours: the colours, the type, the words, the little touches.

  2. Yours to keep

    Your words, your domain, your accounts and your data are yours, and the site is licensed to you for good. You can always take it elsewhere.

  3. Quality over speed

    We don't promise a site by Friday. We build it to be quick and easy to find, and we look after it once it's live.

The name

Why “Whettle”?

Whettle/ˈwɛt(ə)l/
To sharpen something into good fettle. A blend of whet, to sharpen, and fettle, good shape.

Meet the flock

You'll have seen them about.

Derbyshire Gritstones, every one. They do the heavy lifting on this site, and they never come anywhere near yours.

Come and say hello.

Tell us about your business.

Get in touch