What we do, said plainly.

Four threads of work, one approach: pragmatic engineering that ships and earns its keep. Pick the entry point that fits your situation — most engagements pull from more than one.

Custom software.

Bespoke systems that fit how your business actually runs — not the way an off-the-shelf product wishes it did. The right answer when configuration runs out of road, or when the seams between tools are where the real work hides.

Internal tools and back-office systems that replace spreadsheets and email chains
Customer-facing applications, portals and workflows
Replatforming and modernising legacy systems without breaking what works
Data modelling, schema design and migrations — the part that pays back for years
Cloud-native architecture — typically serverless, kept lean and cheap to run

Automation & integration.

Connect the tools you already pay for. Cut manual work. Eliminate errors. Drive down costs. Most businesses are already running half the systems they need — they just don't talk to each other yet.

Stitching together CRMs, eCommerce platforms, finance systems and bespoke back-ends
Replacing manual rekeying, copy-paste workflows and spreadsheet chains
Event-driven pipelines and serverless integrations that scale with the business
Identity & access done properly — OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, SSO into the tools you already use
Lightweight, observable, and cheap to operate

For Frazier's Wine Merchants, this approach reduced eCommerce order processing time by 90%.

AI & machine learning.

Practical AI you can put to work. We embed it into real workflows where it earns its place.

LLM-powered features inside existing products and internal tools
Document understanding, classification and extraction from messy real-world inputs
Retrieval-augmented systems grounded in your own data
Honest scoping — including the cases where AI is the wrong answer

We designed and built the original Spencer platform — a web-based assessment tool for schools and SEND professionals, turning behavioural observations into structured support strategies.

End-to-end product development.

For founders who need a partner — not a vendor against a spec. We've taken products from zero to shipped for clients, for startup partners, and for our own ventures (Cloak being the current example). The same craft, applied to the problem in front of us.

Discovery — turning a fuzzy idea into a buildable plan
Build — small, senior team, shipping in short cycles
Launch — getting it in users' hands and learning fast
Beyond — staying close as the product finds its shape

Three phases, one team.

Whether it's a back-office automation or a product going to market, the shape of the work is similar — and the team stays small and senior the whole way through.

Phase 01

Discovery

Get into the detail of the problem. Map the systems, the constraints and the people involved. Decide what's worth building — and what isn't.

Phase 02

Build

Ship in short cycles. Production-quality code from day one, no scaffolding to throw away. Senior hands on the work throughout.

Phase 03

Launch & beyond

Get it in real users' hands. Watch what happens. Iterate. Stay close enough to keep things running — without becoming a dependency.

We work where the work is interesting.

That's tended to mean a mix of growing businesses, public-sector teams and enterprise. Past clients include DHL, Sainsbury's, the Department for Education, Freshfields and Reed.

Growing businesses

Where ops is straining at the seams and a few well-placed systems can change the maths.

Public sector

Engineering for organisations where outcomes matter and the constraints are real.

Enterprise

Focused engagements inside large organisations — moving fast within their gravity.

Startups

Founders who need a senior team to take a product end-to-end, not just contractors.

Legal & professional services

Internal tools, automation and integration in regulated, detail-heavy environments.

Our own ventures

Cloak is the current example — the same craft, applied to a problem we cared about.

Not sure which thread fits?

Tell us what you're trying to do. We'll tell you which of these — if any — is the right entry point, and how we'd approach it.