Dave Reeder – Made Simple Media

I hadn’t seen Dave properly in years. We’d worked together back in the agency days, late nights, stressful pitches, the kind of jobs where you learn to laugh at broken printers and impossible deadlines. He was the one who could cut through the noise and say, “Forget the fancy pitch, what does the client actually need?”

We caught up recently in a pub in Horsham. Nothing fancy, just a couple of pints and a rambling conversation about what’s changed and what hasn’t. And what struck me is how much of that original spark he still carries. Some founders burn out, or chase hype. Dave never has. He’s still about getting the job done properly.

By 2010, Dave had had enough. He’d seen too many clients left with websites that looked slick in a pitch but fell apart when real customers used them. He’d watched agencies drag out projects because it suited their billing cycles. He thought: This isn’t how it should be.

So he set up shop in Horsham with a laptop, a small office, and a simple idea: strip away the fluff, make the work straightforward, keep the clients happy. He called it Made Simple Media. The name wasn’t marketing spin, it was a promise to himself.

Like most founders, he didn’t get everything right at first. He admits he underpriced projects to win work. Nearly sank the business in year one. But those lessons stuck, and they shaped the ethos that still runs through the agency now.

Made Simple Media is a lean team. Local roots in Horsham, a London address for clients who insist on face-to-face in the city. They don’t push size or scale as a selling point. They push results.

The agency’s sweet spot is the kind of work most businesses depend on but rarely get right:

It’s not work that makes headlines, but it’s the stuff that pays bills.

Websites that stay up. No flimsy templates, no shortcuts. Dave builds for the real world , phones, patchy WiFi, impatient users.

E-commerce that feels human. Clear search, baskets that don’t mysteriously empty, checkout that doesn’t drag on. The details customers actually notice.

SEO as foundation, not afterthought. A strong technical base, then steady work to grow visibility. Clients don’t get lost in buzzwords — they get a site that ranks.

Concrete CMS mastery. A niche tool, but one Dave knows inside out. Many agencies won’t touch it. He leaned in and built a reputation.

Social integration. Not “viral campaigns.” Just neat connections that let small teams post once and get value everywhere.

And his process? Straightforward:

Sounds simple, but it’s the bit most agencies cut corners on.

Ninety-four percent retention over five years. In agency land, that’s unheard of. Dave doesn’t dress it up. He just says: “We answer the phone. We do what we said we’d do. And if something breaks, we fix it.”

Clients praise his responsiveness. One told me: “We came to him expecting a basic rebuild. He spotted problems we didn’t even know we had and fixed them before they bit us.” That’s the difference, not just delivery, but foresight.

Made Simple Media runs on two principles: quality and transparency. If a client’s idea is weak, Dave will say it. If a request is pointless, he’ll explain why. It’s blunt, but it saves money and trust in the long run.

One early client asked for a “ground-breaking” animation that would have slowed their site to a crawl. Dave pushed back. “Do you want something that looks clever or something your customers can use?” They chose the latter. It saved them months of headaches.

Dave’s not interested in building a “cool agency culture” for Instagram. He cares about people. Clients. Colleagues. The local community. He shows up at events. He backs industry groups. He believes the company you keep matters more than the slogans you stick on a wall.

That’s why his agency feels steady. Clients don’t just buy a service, they join a circle of trust.

Lessons From the Journey

For Dave, this isn’t just a job. It’s craft. He cares about the details: navigation that makes sense, hosting that doesn’t drop out, forms that actually deliver emails. He’s stayed small enough to keep his hands in the work, big enough to take on meaningful clients.

Plenty of people in digital chase growth for growth’s sake. Dave never has. He just wants to do good work, and keep doing it. That’s what’s kept Made Simple Media going when bigger outfits have burned out.

Walking out of that Horsham pub, I thought: Dave hasn’t changed much since the early days. Still blunt. Still grounded. Still building things that last. In a sector drowning in jargon, that’s refreshing.

Made Simple Media isn’t trying to be the biggest or flashiest agency in West Sussex. It’s trying to be the one you can rely on. And after nearly a decade, the numbers say it’s working.

If you want to talk to Dave, don’t expect a hard sell. He’ll tell you straight whether he can help, and what it’ll take.o and a commitment to make a difference, one step at a time.