Shirley is full of independent businesses, people and community projects worth discovering. We want to help more of them build a proper web presence — and help Southampton see how much Shirley has to offer.
A good local business can still be surprisingly hard to find online. A website can open opportunities that Instagram or Facebook alone cannot.
Social media is useful, but it is built around feeds, platforms and algorithms. A website gives a business a clear place of its own: something people can search for, share, trust and return to.
Discover Shirley is not trying to sell a cheap website and recover the design cost month by month. We make the website as our contribution to the neighbourhood.
We put in the time to plan, design and create a professional website for your independent local business. That work is our contribution to Shirley and the surrounding area.
This is not paying us back for designing your website. It helps cover the ongoing work and costs that make your website — and Discover Shirley — sustainable.
If even £10/month is difficult right now, talk to us.
We would rather help a good local idea get started than turn it away. When things are going better, we will simply ask you to help us make the same opportunity possible for the next person.
Community supportLocal groups and non-profit activities with no meaningful budget can have their website design and ongoing maintenance supported by Discover Shirley. We do not want a complicated eligibility form. If you are unsure, get in touch.
Discover Shirley is new, and we are not pretending otherwise. We will show the real websites as the project grows.
Our first live Discover Shirley website is for a Southampton dog walker and pet sitter. It gives the business a clear home for its services, approach, availability and contact information.
These are fictional concept websites — not businesses claiming to be part of Discover Shirley. We created them to show the range of styles we can build.
A confident local-service site with prices, gallery, hours and trust signals.
View concept
Classes, trial sessions, parties, studio hire and performance information.
View concept
Opening hours, menus, local favourites and a distinctive neighbourhood identity.
View conceptAs more businesses and community projects join, we want this website to grow into a useful local guide — a place where people across Southampton can find independent businesses, services, classes, groups and organisations around Shirley.
We are not launching an empty directory just to say we have one. We will build it naturally as the community grows.
If you are independent, local and based in Shirley or the surrounding area, tell us what you do. If you are only just starting, tell us that too.
