About me

I'm Warren.
I build WordPress
sites properly.

I’m a freelance WordPress designer and developer based in Toronto, and I’ve been hand-coding custom WordPress sites since 2008. I work primarily with agencies — marketing, branding, and product teams who need a WordPress partner they can trust completely and hand off to without worry.

I care about craft. The kind of sites I build are fast, clean, and maintainable — not because a brief says so, but because I wouldn’t be able to sleep knowing I’d shipped something sloppy with my name on it.

Based in Toronto, Canada
Originally from Norwich, UK
Building WordPress since 2008 — 15+ years
Speciality Custom themes, no page builders
Works with Agencies & B2B SaaS
Currently always Mid-course on something

How I got here

From Photoshop
in Norwich to
WordPress in Toronto

It started in my teens, when I got my hands on Photoshop and discovered a new passion for digital artwork and photo editing. I paid a friend to build me a simple website to show off my work — and was disappointed enough with what came back that I reverse-engineered the code myself to try and fix it.

That was the moment. I’ve been coding ever since.

By the time WordPress became the dominant platform, I was already deep into custom theme development — building sites by hand in a way that most “WordPress developers” still don’t do. No page builders, no pre-built themes, no shortcuts. Just clean, purpose-built code that does exactly what it’s supposed to do and nothing else.

In 2009, I met someone rather wonderful on holiday and made what turns out to have been a very good decision: I flew to Canada to be with her. We got married, had two kids, and I’ve called Toronto home ever since. She’s still quite excellent, for the record.

The business has grown naturally from there — first direct clients, then an increasing focus on agency partnerships, which is where most of my work sits today. I enjoy the collaborative nature of agency work, the variety of projects, and the long-term relationships that tend to form when you consistently do what you say you’ll do.

Early 2000s
Photoshop, digital art, and a broken website
Discovered Photoshop in my teens. Got a basic site built to showcase my work. Hated it. Reverse-engineered the code. A new obsession was born, I was now a web developer.
2008
First custom WordPress site, hand-coded from the start
Started building custom WordPress themes the way I still build them today. No page builders, no off-the-shelf themes, no compromises on code quality.
2009
Norwich to Toronto, a very good decision
Met someone wonderful on holiday, got on a plane, and moved to Canada. Married, two kids, still very happy about the whole thing.
2010s
Building a client base across the UK, Canada and US
Grew a steady roster of direct clients and agency partnerships across three countries. Developed the white-label workflow that most of my agency partners rely on today.
2020s
Agency-first, AI-aware, still learning
Focused the business on long-term agency partnerships. Added AI visibility and GEO to my service offering. Currently always mid-course on something.
Now
15+ years in, I still care about every line of code
Based in Toronto, working with agencies globally. Building WordPress sites the way they should be built, for clients who appreciate the difference.

The work

15 years of craft.
Not 15 years of shortcuts.

There's a version of this job where you install a theme, drag some blocks around, and call it done. That's not this. Every site I build is hand-coded, purpose-built, and designed to be fast, maintainable, and something I'm genuinely proud to have made.

15+

Years building custom WordPress

Since 2008, every year has added depth — new browser standards, evolving WordPress architecture, changing SEO signals, emerging AI considerations. I've never stopped learning and the work reflects that.

0

Page builders. Ever.

Not Elementor. Not Divi. Not Avada. Every site I've ever built is hand-coded custom PHP, CSS, and JavaScript. The code is clean, the sites are fast, and another developer can pick it up without swearing at me.

Courses always in progress

It's very rare that I'm not in the middle of something — a new JavaScript approach, a deep dive into Core Web Vitals, an AI systems course. The web moves fast and staying current is part of the job I take seriously.

Always learning

The web moves fast.
I move with it.

Web development is one of those rare fields where standing still is the same as falling behind. Browser standards shift, WordPress architecture evolves, search algorithms change, and now AI is reshaping how websites get found entirely.

I’ve always treated learning as a core part of the job rather than an optional extra. I follow the people who are thinking hardest about where the web is going, contribute to the community where I can, and make sure that every site I build reflects current best practice — not what was best practice five years ago.

The agencies I work with long-term tell me this is one of the things they value most: they don’t have to worry about whether the advice they’re getting is current. It is.

Currently studying & following

AI visibility & GEO
LLM optimisation, llms.txt, entity clarity for AI systems
Active
Core Web Vitals & INP
Interaction to Next Paint — the newest performance signal
Active
Modern WordPress architecture
Block themes, Full Site Editing, and where the CMS is heading
Ongoing
Accessibility standards
WCAG 2.2, ARIA patterns, and inclusive design in WordPress
Ongoing
"I love what I do, I have a great relationship with my clients, and my work gets better every year that passes."

I know that sounds like something you’d read on any freelancer’s website, but I genuinely mean it. I don’t experience the Sunday dread. I look forward to opening the laptop. The problems are interesting, the clients are good people, and there’s something deeply satisfying about building something fast and beautiful and handing it over to someone who’s excited to use it.

Outside of work, I’m a husband, a dad to two kids who are growing up far too quickly, and someone who spends an unreasonable amount of time thinking about cars. Norwich City FC also gets more of my emotional investment than is probably sensible.

If you’re the kind of agency that cares about quality, communicates clearly, and wants a long-term technical partner rather than the cheapest option — we’ll probably get on well.

Based in Toronto, Ontario — Eastern Time
Married, two kids, originally from Norwich, UK
Working globally since 2008 — Canada, US, UK
Car enthusiast — this comes up more than you'd expect

From clients and partners

What it's like
working with me

"He really knows his stuff, but is very patient with less technical people and very good at explaining what he is doing and why."

M
Megan Aukema
Owner, Aukema & Associates

"His service is exceptional, attention to detail and the response times to queries and changes, are just the best!. We’ve used him for multiple sites and I would definitely recommend him to anyone looking for website work "

A
Ashley Sims
Sims Mortgages

Think we might be
a good fit?

The best way to find out is a short conversation. No pitch, no pressure — just an honest discussion about what you need and whether I can help.