Custom Software
Stop working around software that doesn't fit.
We design web applications, internal tools and client portals around your requirements. Existing systems, user roles and reporting needs are part of the design from the start. You review working software at each agreed stage.
Send an enquiryA fictional service request / one record
See what changes as the work moves.
A custom system should keep the request, context, human decision and handover together. Follow one invented example to see the design problem clearly.
- 01
Intake
A pump stops at Site 04.
A worker sends a request with a photo. The system opens SR-1042 and keeps the report with its source.
Now on the record
- Asset P-17
- Photo attached
- Reporter + time captured
- 02
Context
The asset and rule are found.
The request matches P-17. Its service history appears beside the site rule: stopped equipment gets urgent review.
Now on the record
- Service history linked
- Urgent review flagged
- Rule: stopped equipment
- 03
Decision
A supervisor makes the call.
The duty supervisor reviews the report and approves a site inspection. The software does not make that decision.
Now on the record
- Approver role recorded
- Inspection approved
- Reason + time retained
- 04
Handover
Work moves with its history.
Work order WO-208 goes to the technician with the photo, asset context and approval still attached.
Now on the record
- WO-208 linked
- Next owner assigned
- Full trail remains on SR-1042
When this helps
The software you pay for covers half the job.
The rest lives in spreadsheets, email threads and people's heads.
Workarounds have become the process.
New staff learn the shortcuts and exceptions before they learn the work.
Nobody can see where a job is up to.
Status checks happen by phone, by chat or with a walk to someone's desk.
What we can build
Internal tools
Job tracking, approvals, rosters, registers and the other systems your staff open every day.
Client and customer portals
A place where the people you work with can send information, check progress and download what's theirs.
Platforms shared by several organisations
Software that several businesses or branches share, designed to keep each one's records separate in the database itself.
Replacements for systems you've outgrown
The work, and the records you need to keep, moved off an old system in stages instead of one risky switch.
A second opinion before you build
An outside look at a proposed design, a vendor's quote or an existing codebase, before you commit money to it.
How we approach it
- 1.
Learn how the work moves
We talk to the people who do the work and look at examples of it before anything is designed.
- 2.
Agree the scope in writing
A written proposal sets out what we'll build, what we won't, the assumptions behind it and the price of each stage.
- 3.
Build in stages
Each stage ends with working software you can try. You sign it off before the next stage starts.
- 4.
Hand it over, or keep it running
You receive the code, documentation and access agreed in the proposal, or we look after it under a support agreement.
What you receive
- Working software
- Set up where the proposal says, with the accounts and roles your team needs.
- The source code
- In a repository you can reach, with ownership set out in the written proposal.
- A runbook
- How the system is set up, how to run it, and what to check when something goes wrong.
- An access register
- Every account and permission the system relies on, and who holds each one.
What we need from you
- Someone who can make decisions about the work being changed.
- Time with the people who do the work now.
- Examples of the forms, spreadsheets and reports involved, with anything sensitive removed if you prefer.
- Access to existing systems through their own invite or permission settings, when a stage needs it.
Before committing
Scope depends on the systems, data and access available. These are the constraints we discuss with you.
Risks we check
- Personal information collected without a reason to hold it.
- Records your industry's rules say you must keep, and for how long.
- Parts of the system that depend on a single person's knowledge to keep running.
- Services that store or process your information overseas. Your agreement names each one and the country it's in.
- Lock-in: code or data you couldn't take to another provider.
What we won't recommend
- A custom build where an existing product already does the job. We'll point you to it.
- Rebuilding everything at once when a smaller first stage would test the idea.
Where we're not the right fit
- If the problem is a process rather than software, we'll say so.
- We won't price a build before we understand the work. A figure given before discovery is a guess.
- We don't give legal, tax or employment advice. Where rules shape the software, we work from your own advisers' reading of them.
Questions about custom software
Who owns the code?
Ownership is set out in the written proposal before any work starts. Whoever you choose, get it in writing.
Could another developer take it over later?
That's what the handover is for. It includes the code, a runbook and the access register, as agreed in the written proposal.
How much will it cost, and how long will it take?
Both depend on what discovery finds: how many systems, how much data and how many people use it. Each stage has a fixed price in the written proposal before it starts, and any change is agreed in writing first.
Can we change our minds partway through?
Yes. We describe the change and its effect on scope and cost in writing, and you decide before it goes ahead.
Do you work in our industry?
We take on work in any industry, including ones not listed on this site. Every engagement starts by learning how your business works and the rules that apply to it.
Why not buy an off-the-shelf product?
Often you should, and we'll tell you when. Custom software earns its place when the way you work is what sets you apart, or when your rules are too specific for a generic product.
Related capabilities
Have a project in mind?
Send a short description of the problem and the systems involved. We will review fit and availability.