About
A Shopify Plus studio run by one senior developer. On purpose.
The person you talk to is the person who builds your store. No account managers, no juniors, no hand-offs. Specialists are brought in when a project needs them, and you'll always know who they are.
Richard Forbes-Simpson · Founder · Newcastle upon Tyne
I'm Richard. I've been building for the web since 2004 and on Shopify since 2011, when I started Graftstudio in Newcastle upon Tyne. Before that I cut my teeth in Belfast agencies, and for most of the last decade I was also part of the front-end team at a Shopify Plus agency, working alongside other developers on builds for brands like Gymshark and Victoria Beckham. Graftstudio ran alongside that work the whole time.
Today Graftstudio is a Shopify Plus Partner, and it's still me doing the work, for brands like Brew Tea Co, Feel Reformed and Miller Harris. That isn't a stage on the way to becoming an agency. It's the model. Every store I've shipped, I've written the code for, and the clients I've worked with longest are the ones who value exactly that.
When a project needs more than one pair of hands, I bring in people I've worked alongside for years: design, CRO, content, photography. Senior people, doing what they do every day, with no agency layer in between. You get the depth of a team without the overhead of one.
Kind words14
What clients say once we're a few months in.
“We have worked exclusively with Graftstudio on a series of Shopify projects over the past twelve months. As a small team ourselves, we relish working with pragmatic partners and collaborators who are not only brilliant, but also sympathetic to last-minute requests and fast-changing scopes! Richard has been nothing but forthcoming; he’s reliable and quick, even at the toughest of times. I would not hesitate to recommend Richard and Graftstudio.”
Amelie Jannoe
The case study ↗
“Richard was incredibly accommodating throughout the development of our new website. He was consistently solutions-focused, suggesting practical improvements that helped us streamline the site and create a better overall experience. Whenever I had a technical question, he was readily available to explain things clearly and find a way forward. I would highly recommend Richard to anyone looking to refresh their website and work with a knowledgeable, responsive, reliable developer and a genuinely nice person!”
Deborah Bryant
“I'd never go back to working with a large agency after working with Graftstudio.”
Niamh Russell
Work with us
Got a project in mind?
Interested in working together? We'd love to hear from you.