How we work
What happens from your first message to support after launch, what you get at each step, and what you can hold us to. Anything different on your project is written into your contract.
Before we start: your first message and the discovery
You tell us what you need. Within one working day you get a written reply: a first opinion, a rough range, our earliest start date, or a clear no.
If it's a fit, we propose a discovery: a short planning step with a fixed price and a fixed length. We can sign your NDA, or ours, before you share anything confidential.
During the discovery we
- look at your current systems and any existing code
- talk to the people who use them
- look at your real data
- check anything that could change the price or the timeline
What you get
A written plan, usually six to ten pages. It covers the problem, what is in and out, the risks, the stages with prices and timeline, and whose time we need. You can use it with any supplier, including one that isn't us.
Title on the document: Scope Note
If you continue with us, the discovery price is credited against the first build stage.
Building: short stages, fixed prices, weekly reports
Before building starts, we sign a contract that fixes the scope, the dates, the price of each stage and the total. It also says how each stage is accepted.
Title on the document: Statement of Work
Each stage takes two to four weeks and ends with working software real users can try. You check it against the agreed criteria and accept it in writing. We invoice when you accept.
Every Friday you get a one-page written report: what was done, what is blocked, what comes next, and any date that moved.
Title on the document: Progress Report
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If you want something changed
We estimate it in writing first, at no charge. Nothing is added until you agree.
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If something doesn't work as agreed
We fix it at our cost for 30 days after you accept the stage. After that, fixes come under monthly support, or we estimate them in writing first.
The code is in your company's code account from the first day, not handed over at the end.
Launch: going live and handing over
We put the system live with a way back to the previous version, in case something goes wrong.
You get running instructions: how to update, monitor, back up and restore the system, and how to go back to a previous version.
Title on the document: Runbook
You get a handover pack: every account, who holds it, and what a new developer would need to pick up the work.
Title on the document: Handover Pack
We walk your team through both.
| What it is | When you get it | Title on the document |
|---|---|---|
| A written plan and estimate | At the end of the discovery | Scope Note |
| The build contract | Before building starts | Statement of Work |
| A progress report | Every Friday during the build | Progress Report |
| Running instructions | At launch | Runbook |
| A handover pack | At launch, and again if you leave | Handover Pack |
| A support report | Every month, if you have support | Service Report |
The documents are yours from the moment we issue them.
Blank versions of all six documents, plus our NDA and data-processing agreement, so you can read them before a first call.
After launch: support and response times
Support is optional and separate from the build, so you can end it without ending anything else.
Monitoring, security and software updates, fixes and small changes.
Two working hours
Critical problems: the system is down, losing data, or customers can't complete something.
Next working day
Everything else, including questions and small change requests.
- Our hours are 09:00–18:00 UK time, Monday to Friday. You have a named contact by email and phone, and a second named contact.
- Planned absence is announced at least five working days ahead, with the person covering named.
- If you report a problem, we tell you in writing within one working day whether it is a defect or a change.
- Each month you get a short report on problems, changes released and the risks we are watching. Title on the document: Service Report
- Either side can end support with 30 days' notice.
Nights and weekends
We don't offer night or weekend cover ourselves, or a promised uptime figure. If your system needs cover, we tell you in the discovery, before you sign. We then set up alerts to people you choose, write down what they should do and help you find a provider.
What you own
Everything sits in your company's name while we work, and the rights in the code pass to you as you pay.
- Code
- In your company's code account (repository) from the first day. We set it up for you.
- Accounts
- Hosting, domains, email and analytics are opened in your company's name and billed to you directly. If we take over a system on someone else's account, moving it to yours is in the contract, with a date.
- Rights
- Full rights in the code pass to you as each stage is paid.
- Reused parts
- If we reuse an existing component of ours, it is named in the contract and licensed to you permanently, free of charge.
- Passwords and keys
- Stored in a password manager your company controls, never in email or chat.
- Our access
- Given per person. You can remove it in one step at any time.
No platform fee, and nothing you rent from us.
If you want to leave, or if we stop
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You want to leave
Stop after any stage, or give 30 days' notice to end support. We update the handover pack, walk your team or your new developer through it and remove our access. Handover is included in the price.
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We give notice
You get the same 30 days and the same handover, so there is time to bring in another team.
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We can't continue at all
For example, illness or the company closing. You already hold everything another developer needs: the code, the accounts, the running instructions and the latest progress report. Your contract also names who to contact if we go quiet.
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When we finish
We confirm in writing that our copies of your data are deleted, and list any records the law requires us to keep.
What you already hold
- Code
- Accounts
- Running instructions
- Handover pack
- Latest progress report
When can you start?
Our first reply gives you our earliest realistic start date, before you commit to anything.
Written reply within one working day. No sales calls.