Mitchell Digital

Mitchell Digital A small, friendly web design agency based in Barnard Castle, County Durham.

We build websites that earn enquiries, provide reliable hosting for 70+ sites, and give honest, jargon-free AI advice to owner-led businesses across the North East.

I get a lot of clients who've had a bad run with a bigger agency. Jargon, and no idea who to call when something breaks....
08/10/2026

I get a lot of clients who've had a bad run with a bigger agency. Jargon, and no idea who to call when something breaks.

Louise left this on Google a few months ago:

"Support is always prompt, friendly, and easy to understand, with solutions provided quickly whenever we need help."

Easy to understand is the bit I care about most. It's the same thinking behind the AI Power Hour. One hour, just you and me, plain English, and you leave with a written plan of what to try first.

Be honest. How many AI tools have you signed up to, played with for ten minutes and never opened again?I spoke at Enterp...
06/10/2026

Be honest. How many AI tools have you signed up to, played with for ten minutes and never opened again?

I spoke at Enterprise House last month and someone in the room said they had about five different AI apps and no idea what to do with them. I'd bet plenty of others were thinking the same.

Having all the options is only half the battle. Working out where any of it fits in your business is the hard bit.

I'm putting something together for anyone who wants help with exactly that. More on it soon.

What's the one job in your business you'd love to hand off to AI?

Short week, but I've still got a win to share before the weekend.We launched a new site last month for Olovus, another B...
04/09/2026

Short week, but I've still got a win to share before the weekend.

We launched a new site last month for Olovus, another Barnard Castle business.

Their old site had lost its shape a bit. They'd updated the brand a while ago, and the site just didn't quite match.

I worked directly with their business and marketing manager, to find out what she actually needed day-to-day, not just what looked good on screen.

What changed:

• A clear structure
• A proper mobile experience
• Faster load times

Simple, structured, and built to fit how they actually work.

If you're an electrician, plumber or builder, your customers are letting you into their homes. They want to know who's g...
20/08/2026

If you're an electrician, plumber or builder, your customers are letting you into their homes. They want to know who's going to turn up.

A logo doesn't answer that. Neither does a stock photo of someone in a spotless hard hat.

That's why my face and orange hoodie are all over the Mitchell Digital website. Web development can be taught. My approach and the way I work are the bits nobody else can copy.

Your business has that too.

A professional photo shoot gives people a real person to trust, and it gives you a bank of useful images for your website and social posts. Much better than digging out the same blurry photo from 2015 again.

17/08/2026

Eggleston Show is a Country Show held at the Hayberries, Mickleton. With trade stands selling local produce, lots of farm animals on show not forgetting the vintage tractors and vehicles. It is a great day out for all the family.

I recently spent part of an AI audit pretending to apply for a mortgage.It sounds a bit odd, but walking through the adv...
17/08/2026

I recently spent part of an AI audit pretending to apply for a mortgage.

It sounds a bit odd, but walking through the adviser's real process showed us two jobs worth looking at. One became a small tool during the session and is now being tested.

If it works as expected, it could save 10 to 20 minutes on something the business does 20 to 30 times a month. Across a year, that's roughly 40 to 120 hours.

Mortgage businesses handle highly confidential information, so the tool was custom-coded to run locally. It only works with information that contains no personal identifiers. The time-saving test doesn't require identifiable client data to be sent anywhere.

Put the hourly cost of that work against those hours and you get a much better idea of whether the tool is worth building.

That's a better way to decide whether AI belongs in the process than buying another subscription and hoping for the best.

I'm sure everyone knows I use AI in a lot of different ways, including my cartoon version of Kane (shock horror).But I c...
24/07/2026

I'm sure everyone knows I use AI in a lot of different ways, including my cartoon version of Kane (shock horror).

But I came across a busy post from Love Carlisle asking whether AI-generated posters put people off using a business.

A lot of the replies made the same complaint. The glossy posters all look alike.

That makes sense when you look at how the tools work.

An image generator learns patterns from a huge amount of existing work, then predicts what fits your request. Give it a loose prompt for a cafe special or craft fair and it tends to drift towards the familiar.

The result is a crowded layout built from familiar fonts, usually finished with the same shiny images.

You can get something different, but somebody still has to define the design. You need to specify the typefaces and colours. You need rules for spacing and photography too, including what the model must avoid.

Most small business owners won’t know how to do all of that.

Why would they?

A cafe owner shouldn’t need to become a designer just to advertise Friday’s special.

They’re trying to get a job done quickly. The trouble is that another glossy AI poster may make the business look exactly like the one down the road.

I’d keep the graphic simple and put the effort into professional photography.

A professional photo shows the actual product and the people behind the business. Nobody else has that photo. It gives a customer something real to judge.

I use AI in my own work. It helps me sort interview material and get a first draft moving. The interview still happens, and any proof has to come from the business.

If somebody is deciding whether to buy from you, show them the real thing.

AI can help make the poster. It shouldn’t make up what you’re selling.

Thanks to Love Carlisle (I'm not sure why it popped on my feed) for starting the discussion. The original post is here:

https://www.facebook.com/LoveCarlisle.uk/posts/pfbid0CcKifCHcwZcEfLgugjHzrau7u8T7JbHrzXHP7mw4QiLDjJ5XieiC228Nhbtw15U4l

Would you rather see a simple graphic with a good photograph of the real business, even if it isn’t as glossy?

Anything good on the telly tonight?
11/07/2026

Anything good on the telly tonight?

Massive week in AI. Claude launched Fable 5 and OpenAI dropped ChatGPT 5.6, both landing within a week of each other.If ...
10/07/2026

Massive week in AI.

Claude launched Fable 5 and OpenAI dropped ChatGPT 5.6, both landing within a week of each other.

If you're on a paid Claude plan, you can try Fable 5 for half your normal usage at no extra cost, but only until the 12th of July. Don't miss out on using inside your paid plan before it's gone.

Address

Stotley Cottage, Stanhope Road
Barnard Castle
DL120SA

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5:30pm
Tuesday 9am - 5:30pm
Wednesday 9am - 5:30pm
Thursday 9am - 5:30pm
Friday 9am - 5:30pm

Telephone

+447971939429

Website

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