A Macclesfield IT firm is showing solidarity with fellow small businesses going through hard times by offering to create their websites for free.

Fruitcake Media, a web design company, made the offer this week as more businesses in the town seek to adapt to the new circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic.

David Schofield, who founded the company only six months ago, told Macclesfield Nub News: "At the moment, everyone is needing an online presence more than ever. If you had a local café that was just out of a physical location in Macclesfield, the chances are now that they need something online to deliver their services."

The offer of help is small businesses and sole traders based in the Macclesfield area and all Fruitcake Media require is that they cover the "hosting costs" with everything else done for free.

"Everybody during this time has just got to chip in do whatever they can to help and that's what prompted us to make this offer," David said.

The offer is being made on a first-come-first-served basis and there will, of course, be a limit to the number of businesses that Fruitcake Media can help, as a small business itself.

David said a wide range of businesses have used their services. "An accountants have been in touch to say they want a refresh of their website; we've had a couple of legal firms operating out of Macclesfield. Even just now, a taxi driver called about an online booking system while he's got some time to think about it.

"This goes all the way to a six-year-old whose mother has a start-up in Macclesfield selling dog biscuit treats and she's using it as a learning process for her daughter, which is amazing."

He added: "If you don't really know what you're doing, it can be quite daunting. We all get so busy that a website and all of that hassle just gets put off."

If you are interested in taking Fruitcake Media up on their offer, you can contact them via their Facebook page or email [email protected].

To find out more about the other services they offer, including SEO and email marketing, visit the Fruitcake Media website.