Twenty-four peoplein an Ancoats mill.

We design and build websites for brands that have outgrown their first one. Same studio, same street, since 2018, and the same people from first call to launch day.

Start a project

Unit 4, Hope Mill
113 Pollard Street
Ancoats, Manchester

Founded 2016
24 designers and developers

The Valden studio inside Hope Mill: long desks under tall mill windows in morning sun

Ten years, one street

From a spare room in Levenshulme to a corner of a cotton mill, one launch at a time.

2016

2016
Two people, one spare room
Ruth and Tom start Valden in Levenshulme with two clients and a borrowed printer.
2018
Unit 4, Hope Mill
Six of us move into a corner of a cotton mill on Pollard Street, Ancoats.
2019
The first online store
Our first Shopify build, for a Leeds homeware maker, sells out its launch range in a weekend.
2020
Care plans begin
Every site we launch now keeps a named developer after launch day.
2022
Twelve people, Framer joins
Framer and Sanity join Webflow and Shopify. Motion becomes its own discipline.
2024
Maison Verel
A Shopify Plus store that lifts conversion from 1.9% to 3.4%.
2026
Twenty-four, and booking
Forty-one sites launched. Casa Ondara, Arkel and Strade in the last eighteen months.

How we work

Four rules we wrote down in 2016 and still hold ourselves to on every project.

01 / 04
One fixed price, agreed before anyone starts work.
Scope changes are written down and priced before they happen. Nobody receives an invoice they did not expect.
02 / 04
The people on the first call are the people who build it.
No account managers passing notes. Your designer and developer are in every review, from workshop to launch.
03 / 04
Your team should never need us to change a headline.
We plan the content model around how you work and train the people who will run the site day to day.
04 / 04
Launch day is the middle of the project, not the end.
Every site gets thirty days of fixes. Most stay with us on a care plan and keep improving every month.

The people you'll meet

Eight of the twenty-four. Every project has a named designer and developer from the first call.

And sixteen more designers, developers and producers. We are hiring a Webflow developer

Ruth HallamCo-founder, creative director

Ran the web team at a Manchester publisher for nine years before starting Valden. Still art-directs every project and reads every line of copy before launch.

Tom AshworthCo-founder, technical director

Chooses the platform, sets up the content model and reviews every pull request. Happiest when a client edits the site without calling us.

Amara OkaforSenior designer

Leads design on hospitality and retail projects, including Casa Ondara. Works out the booking flow before she draws the homepage.

Vikram DesaiClient partner

Twenty years in agency and in-house marketing. Writes the proposals, runs the first workshop and keeps the fixed price fixed.

Niamh GallagherLead developer, Webflow and Framer

Builds the CMS your team actually uses and trains them on it. Keeps a running list of every edit a client finds awkward, then fixes it.

Daniel ChengLead developer, Shopify

Has built eleven Shopify and headless stores with us, from Maison Verel to the Strade drop pages. Tests every checkout with real cards.

Sofia MarchettiMotion designer

Designs how pages move, from scroll timing to hover states. Previously in broadcast graphics, so she cares about the frame rate.

Graham PikeCare lead

Looks after every site on a care plan: updates, monitoring, reports and the small changes that arrive on a Friday afternoon.

Ruth HallamCo-founder, creative director
Ran the web team at a Manchester publisher for nine years before starting Valden. Still art-directs every project and reads every line of copy before launch.
Tom AshworthCo-founder, technical director
Chooses the platform, sets up the content model and reviews every pull request. Happiest when a client edits the site without calling us.
Amara OkaforSenior designer
Leads design on hospitality and retail projects, including Casa Ondara. Works out the booking flow before she draws the homepage.
Vikram DesaiClient partner
Twenty years in agency and in-house marketing. Writes the proposals, runs the first workshop and keeps the fixed price fixed.
Niamh GallagherLead developer, Webflow and Framer
Builds the CMS your team actually uses and trains them on it. Keeps a running list of every edit a client finds awkward, then fixes it.
Daniel ChengLead developer, Shopify
Has built eleven Shopify and headless stores with us, from Maison Verel to the Strade drop pages. Tests every checkout with real cards.
Sofia MarchettiMotion designer
Designs how pages move, from scroll timing to hover states. Previously in broadcast graphics, so she cares about the frame rate.
Graham PikeCare lead
Looks after every site on a care plan: updates, monitoring, reports and the small changes that arrive on a Friday afternoon.

Come and see the mill

Most projects start with a coffee in the studio. Ring the bell for Unit 4 and come up to the second floor.

Hope Mill, a red-brick cotton mill beside the Rochdale Canal in Ancoats — Hope Mill from the Rochdale Canal

Unit 4, Hope Mill113 Pollard StreetAncoats, Manchester M4 7JA

Hours: Mon to Fri, 9:00 to 18:00
Phone: 0161 496 0418
Email: hello@valden.studio
12 min walk: Manchester Piccadilly
6 min walk: New Islington tram stop
3 min walk: Ancoats Marina
10 min walk: Northern Quarter

Get directions

Meet the teambefore you hire us.

Book a 30-minute callBooking projects for spring 2027

Twenty-four peoplein an Ancoats mill.

Ten years, one street

Two people, one spare room

Unit 4, Hope Mill

The first online store

Care plans begin

Twelve people, Framer joins

Maison Verel

Twenty-four, and booking

How we work

The people you'll meet

Come and see the mill

Meet the teambefore you hire us.