About Us

Thirteen years ago, two people decided to back themselves.

This is what happened next.

Black and white photograph of Phil Crowton and Lisa Pedley, Directors of White Crow Studios

The Origin Story

Phil Crowton and Lisa Pedley had worked together before. They knew what they were capable of. And they knew - over drinks one evening - that they had their own ambitions, and the only way to make them happen was to get together and do it.

That conversation became a plan. The plan became a business. And the business started, as many of the best ones do, in a spare room.

The early feelers they put out to clients they trusted were met with something neither of them had quite expected: genuine enthusiasm. The people who knew their work wanted more of it. That was all the encouragement they needed.

From that spare room came a small office. From the small office came a larger one. And today, White Crow Studios operates from The Sanctuary - a purpose-converted studio alongside a converted church in the Staffordshire countryside. A setting that has to be seen to be understood, and one that tells you something immediately about the way this studio thinks about craft, quality, and environment.

Clients who visit don't just come for a meeting. They come to get under the skin of what's possible. The Sanctuary does that to people.

What Hasn’t Changed

The business has grown. The brief has evolved. CROWSEYE and NEST didn't exist in 2013. But the things that made White Crow worth backing in the first place haven't moved an inch.

Phil is still hands-on in the studio - the person who looks at a set of drawings and knows instinctively what isn't working, and how to fix it. His passion for combining visual artistry with technical expertise, and his drive to stay at the forefront of a fast-changing industry, has shaped everything the studio produces - including the development and launch of NEST, the studio's bespoke interactive platform for sales and marketing suites.

Lisa is still the voice clients hear first and trust most - the relationship, the reassurance, the commercial brain behind the creative output. Having started her career in exhibition design, moved into architectural visualisation, and gone on to qualify as a chartered marketeer, Lisa brings a depth of understanding that goes well beyond what a development looks like. She understands what it needs to do.

Matt James, Creative Director, came with Lisa from the very beginning. Almost two decades in the industry and still producing some of the studio's most ambitious work - with an eye for detail that has set the standard the whole team works to. James Brown and Dave Powell have been part of the studio since its earliest days. Doug - Matt Doughty, affectionately nicknamed by the team - joined in 2019 bringing over two decades of industry knowledge. Matt Jones started his career producing housebuilder brochures before discovering 3D - and hasn't looked back since.

This is not a studio where people leave. Ten people. One studio. Every brief treated with the same attention as the first one.

The Sanctuary

There is something about The Sanctuary that clients remark on every time they visit. A converted church. A purpose-built studio. The Staffordshire countryside outside the window.

It isn't just aesthetically unusual - though it is that. It's the feeling of being somewhere that takes its work seriously. Where the surroundings reflect the quality of what's produced inside them.

We'd love to show you around. Come and see what we mean.

Book a Studio Visit

Meet the Team