How we work
What happens between your first message and the first piece of work, and straight answers to the questions people ask before they get in touch.
What happens after you contact us
Five stages. You can stop at any of them.
You tell us about the system
Use the form or the phone. A few lines is enough: what the software does, what it is built on if you know, and what prompted you to get in touch. An engineer reads it, and you get a reply within one working day.
A 20-minute call
Free, and with someone who can answer technical questions. It helps to have on the call whoever knows the system best and whoever will decide what happens next. If we are not the right people for the job, we will say so and suggest who might be.
A confidentiality agreement, if you want one
We will sign yours, or send ours, before you share anything you would not publish. You do not need one for the first call.
A first step with a fixed price
For an existing system this is usually the £1,950 code audit, so that both sides know what state it is in. For new work it is a written scope and a fixed quote. Either way you see the price and what you get for it before you agree to anything.
Then one decision at a time
After the first step you choose what happens next: nothing, a defined piece of work at a fixed price, or a monthly support plan. Each is agreed in writing on its own.
Each step is priced before you commit to it
You can stop after any step and keep what it produced. Nothing depends on agreeing to the next one.
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A first call
Free20 minutes
You describe the system and what prompted the call. We say whether we can help, and if we are not the right people we say that too.
Arrange a call -
A code audit
£1,950 fixed1 to 2 weeks
A written report on the condition of the system, its risks and what to do first. It is yours whatever you decide, and the fee is credited against any work that follows.
What the audit covers -
A first piece of work
Fixed priceAgreed in writing
Usually the priority items from the audit, or one defined package. Scope, price and acceptance checks are agreed before we start.
How fixed price works -
Ongoing support, if you want it
From £450 a monthCancel with 30 days' notice
A monthly plan covering faults, updates and small changes. The code, accounts and documentation stay yours throughout.
Support plans
Before you get in touch
Who will we be dealing with?
An engineer, from the first reply onwards. We do not have a sales team. Graham Church, who founded the company, still leads the technical work.
Will you sign a non-disclosure agreement?
Yes. We will sign yours or send ours before you share code, data or anything commercially sensitive. The first call does not need one.
Do you take on software another company built?
Yes. Most of the systems we look after were built by another supplier, an in-house team or a single developer who has since moved on. We do not need the previous developer to cooperate, although it helps when they do.
What is the smallest job you take on?
There is no minimum. The smallest things we sell are emergency help for a system in trouble, from £480, and the £1,950 code audit.
What do you not do?
Penetration testing, compliance certification, general IT support for PCs and networks, and support for packaged products such as Sage or Dynamics. We will point you to the right kind of provider for those.
Price and risk
When do we get a price?
The audit, the packages and the support plans have published prices. Anything else is quoted in writing after we have looked into whatever could change the price, and before any chargeable work starts.
Can you guarantee you can fix our system?
Not before we have seen the code, and nobody honestly can. That is what the audit is for. Its report says whether the system should be kept as it is, reworked in parts or replaced, and you can take it to any supplier.
What if a fixed-price job takes you longer than expected?
That is our risk. The price is fixed for the agreed scope, which is why we investigate the unknowns before quoting.
What if we need to change something part way through?
You tell us, we assess what it changes and quote it. You can add it, swap it for something of similar size or leave it for later. Nothing is added to the bill without your agreement.
What if a support plan is not working for us?
If you are not satisfied in the first 30 days of a support plan, tell us and we refund that month's fee. After that, plans run month to month and you can cancel with 30 days' notice.
Ownership and leaving
Who owns the code?
You do. For a system we take over, the code was yours already and stays yours. For new work, ownership passes to you when the work is paid for. In both cases you hold the source code, the build instructions and the documentation another team would need.
Are we locked in?
No. Support plans run month to month with 30 days' notice. Accounts, servers and domains are in your organisation's name, not ours, and the documentation is kept in a state another team could pick up.
What happens if we want to move to another supplier later?
We hand over the repository, the release process and the documentation, and answer the incoming team's questions. Our own takeover checklist is the standard we would expect to be held to.
What hours do you cover?
Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. Out-of-hours cover for critical faults is available on the Priority support plan by agreement.
Useful before a first call
- Questions to ask a software supplierA printable list to use with us or with anyone else.
- Sample code audit reportWhat the written report looks like, for a fictional system.
- End-of-support checkA free script that lists what a server is running and when support ends.
- Us or the alternativesWhen a freelancer, an in-house hire or a low-code platform is the better choice.
Tell us about your system
Say what it does, what it is built on and what is worrying you. We will reply with what we would look at first and whether we are the right people to help.