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 part of the front-end team at a Shopify Plus agency, working alongside other developers on builds for brands like Gymshark, Victoria Beckham, Paul Valentine and Florence by Mills.
Today Graftstudio is a Shopify Plus Partner, and it's still me doing the work. 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.
- 2011
- Graftstudio founded
- 17 yrs
- Building on Shopify
- 150+
- Stores launched
- Plus
- Shopify Plus Partner
How we work
The things a big agency can't promise, and the questions you're right to ask a small one.
Who you actually work with
Me, from the first call to launch and beyond. The proposal, the build, the tricky checkout logic, the 8am message when a campaign goes live. There is no one to be handed off to.
Specialists, when the job needs them
Design, conversion, content and photography come from people I've collaborated with for years, brought in per project and introduced to you by name. If the work doesn't need them, you don't pay for them.
Capacity and continuity
I take on a small number of builds at a time alongside retained clients, so nothing gets rushed. Everything is documented as it is built, kept in your own Shopify and GitHub accounts, and written so another senior developer could pick it up. Nothing is locked to me.
Straight answers
If a feature isn't worth building, or a simpler route exists, you'll hear it. Clients tend to stay for years, and that only happens when the advice is honest.
Fractional
A senior Shopify developer inside your team, for the days you need one.
Some brands have a strong in-house marketing team but nobody senior on the Shopify side. Some agencies need Plus-level front-end on a project without hiring for it. Fractional means a set number of days each week or month, working in your tools alongside your people, with the same person every time.
Client feedback
“I'd never go back to working with a large agency after working with Graftstudio.”
Niamh Russell
E-Commerce Marketing Manager , Steamline Luggage
Work with us
Got a project in mind?
Interested in working together? We'd love to hear from you.