Custom software development
We build bespoke web, mobile and enterprise systems for firms in the UK, US and Australia. Our work runs in factories, on construction sites, in vehicle safety testing and in Norwegian schools.
Get a scoped estimate in 5 working days See what we have shipped
The first call is a scoping call, not a pitch. You leave it with a build order and a number.
| Build order Features, ranked, with what we would cut | Day 5 |
|---|---|
| Architecture sketch Stack, integrations, data model | Day 5 |
| Cost band Range, not a single false number | Day 5 |
| Team shape Who works on it and for how long | Day 5 |
| Buy versus build call Including when we say buy | Day 5 |
The honest question first
Custom software costs more than a licence and takes longer to arrive. It is worth it in a narrow set of cases, and we would rather tell you which side you are on than sell you a project.
Buy something instead when
We will name the products worth looking at and stop there. It costs you one call.
Build custom when
This is where our work sits. Every case below started with a process no product covered.
What we build
The examples are real projects, not a list of things we could learn.
Our work
Case study, United Kingdom
Hydrajaws makes portable pull testers used in construction and safety compliance. Their existing app was poorly documented, they did not control the code, and no generic product could read the values their instruments produced. We rebuilt it as two apps behind Azure AD B2C and integrated the KTC SDK so torque and pull readings land in the record as measured.
Case study, Norway
A Norwegian EdTech company ran a system that could no longer handle its data volumes or meet current security standards, and a previous vendor had failed to deliver the replacement on schedule or on budget. We rebuilt it module by module and put a separate team on the migration alone, so years of sensitive student records moved without interrupting the schools using them.
A third build, a safety compliance app for Verify Auto, took the same instrument integration into the automotive sector.
Plain definitions
These come up on almost every first call, and getting them clear saves a wasted procurement round.
Software written for one organisation rather than sold to many. That is the whole definition, and it covers everything from a single internal tool to a platform a company sells to its own customers.
The useful distinction is not custom against off the shelf. It is whether your process is the thing customers pay for. If it is, a product that forces you to work like everyone else removes the reason people buy from you.
More often than agencies admit. If a product covers 80 percent of what you need and the missing 20 percent is cosmetic, configure it. Modern platforms carry integrations, permissions and reporting that cost real money to rebuild.
Building wins when the missing piece is the part that matters: reading equipment, a certificate format a regulator dictates, a workflow no product models, or licence costs across your headcount that now exceed the cost of owning software.
Where we have done this
We list four because we have shipped in four. A longer list would be a list of industries we would like to work in.
How the work runs
Two-week sprints with a demo at the end of each. Nothing is hidden until a big reveal at the end.
Week 1
We map the process, the integrations and the constraints. You get the build order, the cost band and the buy versus build call.
Week 2 to 4
Data model, stack, interface. Clickable prototype before anyone writes production code.
Week 5 onwards
A demo every two weeks. You change priorities between sprints, not by raising a change request.
After launch
Warranty period, then a support plan or a full handover of code and documentation, whichever you want.
Technology and integration
Every item here comes from something already shipped, not from a list of things we could learn.
Who does the work
A small team by outsourcing standards, and deliberately so. The people who scope your build are the people who write it, and you meet them before you sign anything.
How we work
The models differ in one thing: how much of the management you hand over. Everything else, including who owns the code, is the same in all five.
Changing model later is normal. Augmentation into a dedicated team is the common direction, and the people stay.
Engineers join your team and work inside your process, your board and your code review.
A team that works only on your product, with a lead on our side running delivery.
A long-term engineering site under your standards, where we carry recruitment, HR, payroll and equipment.
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One price for a scope that is genuinely settled, with the overrun carried by us.
Everything in the centre model, with the whole team moving into your own Vietnamese entity on an agreed date.
FAQs
Upfront, almost always yes. Over a few years it often is not, once you count licences across your headcount, the cost of workarounds, and the integrations you pay for separately. We will tell you honestly which side your case falls on, including when the answer is buy the product.
A focused first version usually takes 3 to 6 months. A large enterprise system runs 9 to 18 months or more. The scoping week gives you a real timeline for your build rather than a range from a brochure.
Heavily during scoping and design, then a demo every two weeks. If your team cannot give us that time, say so early and we will staff a business analyst to carry more of it.
Your company, entirely. That is in the service agreement, and every engineer signs an NDA before getting repository access.
Yes, and it is a common reason clients come to us. We have integrated with ERP, MES and IoT systems, including ones with no modern interface, and we have migrated data out of systems that were past end of life.
A warranty period is included. After that you can take a support plan, or take the code and run it yourself. We hand over repositories, pipelines and documentation on request, not at the end of a contract term.
Software written for one organisation rather than sold to many. The useful test is whether your process is the thing customers pay for. If it is, a product that forces you to work like everyone else removes the reason people buy from you.
Yes, and we recommend it. A first version aimed at one workflow with real users tells you more than a year of specification. Both of our largest engagements grew from a small start.
On a dedicated team arrangement you change priorities between two-week sprints at no extra cost. On a fixed price arrangement changes are quoted separately, which is one reason we recommend fixed price only for settled scope.
Our engineers in Ho Chi Minh City, working the overlap hours you need. You meet the people on your project before you sign.
The spreadsheet everyone depends on, the system two people know how to use, the report that takes a day to produce. Thirty minutes and you will know whether building is worth it.
