The strategy session: £225 excl. VAT
Every engagement begins with a paid professional conversation: 50 minutes online with the founder about your ambition, your market and whether we are the right studio for you. The fee is £225 excl. VAT.
It is a conversation, not an audit, report or written plan, and the fee is not credited against a later project. The full terms, including rescheduling, are on the strategy session page.
Three ways of working together
We keep the structure simple. There are three forms of engagement, and the strategy session always comes first.
| Form | What it covers | How it is priced |
|---|---|---|
| Beacon Strategy Session | A 50-minute conversation with the founder to establish whether we are the right fit | £225 excl. VAT |
| Project | A website, online shop, brand identity or SEO programme with a defined scope | Fixed price, set out in a proposal after the session |
| Ongoing advisory | Continued SEO, marketing or business coaching over a longer period | By invitation, after a session or a first project |
Why there is no free consultation
Plenty of agencies offer a free discovery call, and most of those calls are sales calls with a friendlier name. We have chosen a paid conversation instead. Our time goes to a small number of companies, and a fee means we spend it with owners who have a real question and a real plan.
What you get in return is the founder's undivided attention for 50 minutes, at the level of your business rather than a script.
We decide afterwards
The session commits neither side. Afterwards we decide whether we take the project on. We do not work with every company that applies; we accept projects where we can make a genuine difference and where the working relationship fits.
How a project price is set
If we take the project on, we write a proposal with a fixed scope and a fixed price. It lists what we will deliver, what you receive, the timeline and what sits outside the engagement. You know the full cost before work starts, and there is no block of hours quietly being used up in the background.
If your requirements change during the project, we first explain the effect on time and cost. The agreement only changes once you approve. The wider process is described in how we work.
Why no "from" prices
A "from" price tells you very little. One business needs a ten-page site, another needs eighty pages, a booking system and integrations with its CRM. A single headline figure invites comparisons that do not hold, so we only give a number once we understand what you actually need.
What drives the price of each service
Each service has its own cost drivers. The overview below helps you judge which factors will weigh most in your case. For background, see our pages on web design, the work of an SEO agency and PPC management.
| Service | What mainly drives the price |
|---|---|
| Web design | Number of page templates, degree of bespoke design, how much copy we write, integrations such as booking or CRM, and accessibility requirements |
| Ecommerce web design | Size of the product range, payment and delivery options, international shipping and customs, and links with stock or accounting systems |
| SEO | Size and condition of the site, how competitive your sector is, and how many pages need creating or reworking |
| Local SEO | Number of branches and service areas, and the state of your Google Business Profile and location pages |
| AI SEO | How well your expertise is already documented online, and how much content needs restructuring or adding |
| PPC | Number of campaigns and audiences, conversion tracking and landing pages (ad spend is paid directly to the platform) |
| Branding | Strategy only or strategy plus design, and the number of assets and applications |
| Business coaching | Length of the engagement and how often we meet |
Currency, invoicing and VAT
Kaptein Beacon is a Netherlands-based business and invoices are issued from the Netherlands. Prices for UK clients are quoted in pounds sterling and exclude VAT.
For UK business clients, VAT on cross-border business-to-business services is generally handled under the reverse-charge rules, which means the customer accounts for the VAT rather than the supplier charging it. How this applies to you depends on your own VAT position, so please confirm the treatment with your accountant.
After you apply for a strategy session, we tell you how and when to pay for it. For projects, the payment schedule is set out in the proposal, so you know in advance when each invoice will arrive.
Comparing quotes sensibly
We are not the cheapest option and do not try to be. When you set quotes side by side, the total is only one line. Also ask:
- What is actually included? Two quotes for "a new website" can describe entirely different projects, with or without copywriting, migration and redirects.
- Who does the work? The person who pitched to you, or a team you will never meet?
- Who owns the outcome? Check that your domain, website, content, analytics and ad accounts are registered in your name.
- What is being promised? Guaranteed rankings are a warning sign, not a selling point.