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Why choose Hummingbird

The reasons owners choose us over an agency, a directory or doing it themselves.

You have three alternatives: a bigger agency, a directory like Yell or Checkatrade, or your own evenings. Here is how we compare, honestly.

Seven reasons

What you get with Hummingbird that you don't get elsewhere.

You deal with the people doing the work

Two partners. No account manager relaying messages, no junior learning on your budget, no hand-offs.

Priced around your budget

We ask what you can comfortably invest and build the plan to fit. Plans from £300 a month, not a menu of packages designed to upsell.

Thirty years of judgement

Derryn has planned marketing for national brands and one-van businesses. You get the same thinking, at a price a local business can justify.

Marketing and technology in one team

The website, the systems and the AI tools are built by the partner who designed them. Nothing is outsourced or bolted on.

AI used properly

We use AI to work faster and keep costs down, with an experienced marketer deciding what's right. You get the efficiency without the generic output.

You own everything, no lock-in

Three-month start, then rolling monthly with 30 days' notice. Your domain, profiles, data and designs are yours throughout.

Local, and in person

Based in Orpington. We meet you at your premises or over a coffee across South East London and North West Kent, and we know the area you're selling into.

How we compare

A fair comparison with the alternatives most owners consider.

What matters to youHummingbirdTypical agencyDirectory (Yell, Checkatrade etc.)Doing it yourself
Who does the workThe two partners you metAccount manager plus juniorsAutomated; you're one of thousandsYou, in the evenings
PricingBuilt around your budget, from £300/monthFixed packages, typically £500–£1,500+Annual contract, leads shared with competitorsFree, except your time
Commitment3 months, then rolling monthlyOften 6–12 monthsUsually 12 monthsNone
Who owns the assetsYou, alwaysVaries; check the small printThey own the listing and the leadsYou
StrategyWritten 90-day plan, reviewed quarterlySometimes, at the top tiersNoneWhatever you have time for
Technology & AIBuilt in, by the partner who designed itOutsourced or extraTheir platform, their rulesTrial and error

And two honest reasons we might not be right for you

If you want a guarantee of a Google position, nobody honest can give you one and we won't. We'll show you the ranking moving every month instead.

If you want it all done by next week, local marketing doesn't work that way. Fixes happen fast; results compound over three to six months. If you need enquiries tomorrow, we'll say so and talk about ads.

  • Free call, then a free audit worth £300Twenty minutes to see if we fit, then a proper look at how you show up, before you spend a pound.
  • Plan Session creditedThe £295 Marketing Plan Session comes off your first month if you go ahead.
  • Monthly one-page reportRankings, enquiries and what we did, in plain English, every month.
  • Quarterly reviewBudget and plan reviewed together; both can change.
How we price

Priced around your budget, not a menu

We don't sell packages. We work as your marketing team, and the plan is built around what you can comfortably invest for the next six months. Plans start from £300 a month, with a three-month start and then monthly with 30 days' notice. You own every account and asset throughout.

No pitch, no pressure. We reply personally, usually the same working day.

  1. Free 20-minute Discovery Call — a relaxed chat on the phone or video about your business, what you'd like to achieve and what you can comfortably invest. No pitch. If we're not the right fit, we'll say so and point you somewhere useful.
  2. Free Marketing Audit, worth £300 — after the call we look at how you show up on Google, Bing and Apple, who is beating you and why, and send you a short plain-English report with the three fixes that matter most.
  3. Marketing Plan Session · £295 — a 90-minute working session with Derryn and Stefan and a written 90-day plan: what we'll do, in what order, and what it costs. Credited against your first month if you go ahead; yours to keep either way.
  4. Your plan starts — set up and fix in weeks one and two, then manage and grow every month with a one-page report.
  5. Quarterly review — together we look at what the plan produced and agree the next 90 days and the budget for them.