Verne Studio
About
Work
Cornwall
Get in touch
Cornwall's independent
businesses have built more
than the world gets to see.
I'm here to
change that.
Rory Wathern · 17 · Truro, Cornwall
FIELD NOTES — CORNWALL
Week 16, 2026 — 100 businesses across 19 towns
FIG. 01
VERNESTUDIO
Cornwall·Research-first creative work·Est. 2026·
SEE THE RESEARCH

The Research

100 businesses documented across 37 towns. Research complete.

Critical Gap: 27 · Underutilised: 55 · Benchmark: 18

The map grows every week.

The gap it shows has been there for years.

The Cornwall Independent Business Index
100 businesses documented.
See them all →
The Cornwall Independent Business Index
The index grows every week.
New businesses, new towns, new findings — sent directly as the research happens. One email per week. No marketing.
Follow the research →
Research subscription, not a marketing list. Unsubscribe any time.
LIVE LOOKUP
What's your business called?
I'll look at what's actually public about it — the same way I looked at the 100 businesses on that map.
Look it up →

The difference research makes.

VERNE STUDIO
Website Design & Copy
Social Media Content
Marketing & Copywriting
Advisory & Strategy
Website Design & Copy
01 — The pattern I found
73% of independent businesses across Cornwall have no functional website. Of those that do, most open with "Welcome to..." — category description before a single reason to care.
02 — What it means
The website isn't just absent — when it exists, it's often communicating the wrong thing from the first line.
03 — How I address it
I research what customers actually say, what competitors consistently miss, and what makes this business worth a detour. The website is built around those specific answers.
1945
First client
JELBERT'S ICE CREAM · NEWLYN · EST. 1945
"Rory has been an absolute pleasure to work with from start to finish. His passion and commitment to his trade was quite evident from the research he had undertaken before we had even met and begun the website design. Rory is clearly dedicated to his profession, was eager to help and easy to communicate with throughout. We are delighted with the service provided and the end product. Rory is only starting out in his career path but has shown a maturity and skill set far beyond his years."
Harry
Jelbert's Ice Cream, Newlyn
jelberts.co.uk
→
One service.
Start where the gap is biggest.
Website, social, copy, or strategy — whichever discipline needs addressing first. Research-first approach applied to a single service, scoped around your specific situation.
Most businesses start here.
Pricing on conversation.
Where would your business sit on that map?
Critical Gap
Your digital presence significantly understates what you've built.
Underutilised
You have presence but it isn't working hard enough.
Benchmark
You're doing it well and want to maintain or extend it.
All four services.
The complete picture.
Website, social, copy, and strategy built as one integrated approach. Research done once, applied across everything. No silos, no inconsistency, nothing missed.
Research done once, used everywhere.
Priced around your specific situation.
What do your best customers say about you that doesn't appear anywhere online?
FOUNDING PARTNERS
Everything, from the start.
Three slots available
Priced around your specific situation.
Conversation first. No obligation.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
Website design & copy
Social media content
Marketing materials
Advisory & strategy
3 months ongoing support
Research-first throughout
HOW IT WORKS
01
I have a conversation. Understand your business, your situation, what needs to change.
02
I do the research. Your customers, your competitors, your market. What's missing and why.
03
I build everything around what I find — and show you the research before a single thing gets built. You know exactly why every decision was made.
Before my first client, I spent 8 weeks documenting 50 businesses across Cornwall. That's the standard I hold myself to.My first client was Jelbert's Ice Cream, Newlyn — documented in the index before we ever spoke. The site is live at jelberts.co.uk.
WHY BE A FOUNDING PARTNER?
You shape the work.
As one of the first three clients, you have direct influence over how I work. Not fitting a template — building it.
Founding rate locked permanently.
The rate you join at doesn't change for ongoing work. Early clients get the best pricing I'll ever offer.
Three months, fully supported.
Not handed off after delivery. Three months of refinement, adjustments, and strategic input — included as standard, not an add-on.
My reputation depends on you.
A new studio has everything to prove. That means more focus, more care, and more investment in making your project undeniable.
You've seen what I found. The question now is what I'd find for you.
Not first-come-first-served. I'll have a conversation first to make sure it's the right fit for both sides.
Apply for Founding Partners→
I'll be in touch within 24 hours to arrange a conversation.
Verne Studio
I started by researching Cornwall's independent businesses before I had a single client. I'll bring the same approach — the same questions, the same weeks, the same rigour — to yours.
hello@vernestudio.co.uk
Get in touch→
Cornwall Independent Business Index — updated weekly
Verne Studio is Rory Wathern, based in Truro, Cornwall.
© 2026 Verne Studio