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Custom app development

Software built around your business, not the other way round

Most businesses end up bending their process to fit whatever software they could find. We build the thing you actually needed. Custom apps, calculators, databases, portals and booking systems, designed and coded in the UK, with your own project manager from first call to launch.

UK based teamGoogle PartnerBuilding since 2011Your own project managerCode you own outright

Integrations

If you already use it, we can probably plug into it

WordPressWooCommerceGoogle WorkspaceMicrosoft 365ShopifyBigCommerceSquarespaceWixWebflowStripePayPalSquareWorldpayXeroSageQuickBooksHubSpotMailchimpIntercomZapierGoogle AnalyticsMetaTrustpilotCalendlyDropboxAirtableAsana

Already got systems you're happy with? Keep them. The job is normally joining them up, not replacing them, and if it has an API we can usually connect it.

When off the shelf stops working

You know the signs. Three different systems that don't talk to each other. A member of staff whose actual job has quietly become copying data from one into another. A monthly subscription for software where you use about a fifth of it and still can't do the one thing you need.

Off the shelf software is built for the average of a thousand businesses. It's cheap and it's quick and for plenty of jobs it's absolutely the right answer. But when your process is the thing that makes you money, bending it to fit someone else's software costs you more every year than fixing it properly ever would.

That's the point where custom is worth it.

your processoff the shelf

Why custom

The spreadsheet that ate your business.

It started as a quick fix in 2019. Now a core part of your business runs on it, one person understands it, and everyone is slightly afraid of it. Keep scrolling.

Broken formulas
7
Hours a week
9

Same data. Same business. Software that knows what it is.

jobs_v7_FINAL_use_this_one.xlsx
Ref
Customer
Job
£
Status
1042
J. Harrison
Flat roof
2,400
DONE?
1043
J Harrison
flat roof
#REF!
chase
1044
Mrs P
?? ask Dave
1,150
1044
Sleeping Giant
Gutters
#VALUE!
invoiced
1046
DSI Ltd
Doors x14
=SUM(D2:D5
1042J. Harrison£2,400Paid
1043Mrs Patel£1,150Invoiced
1044Sleeping Giant£880Scheduled
1045DSI Ltd£9,600In build
This month£0

What we build

We write everything from scratch, so the honest answer is that the list below is a sample rather than a menu. If you can describe it, we can usually cost it.

Calculators and quoting tools

Treatment cost calculators, finance and repayment estimators, instant quote builders, savings and ROI tools. The kind of thing that turns a browser into an enquiry because they got an answer instead of a contact form.

Booking and scheduling systems

Take your bookings direct instead of paying commission to a platform. Availability, payments, confirmations, and two way sync with the calendars and channel managers you already use.

Client and customer portals

A login area where your customers can see their own information: orders, documents, treatment plans, progress, invoices. Fewer "just checking in" phone calls for your team.

Internal tools and dashboards

Job boards, project trackers, stock and inventory systems, reporting dashboards that pull your numbers into one place instead of five tabs.

Databases and admin systems

The engine room. Structured, searchable, properly backed up, and built so it still works when you've got ten times the data.

Integrations between systems you already pay for

Getting your website, your CRM, your accounts software and your payment provider to actually talk to each other, automatically.

Custom plugins and platform extensions

Bending WordPress, WooCommerce or Shopify to do the thing they don't do out of the box.

More on plugins and integrations

Built here, by people you can ring

This is the part that matters most and it's the part most agencies gloss over.

Custom software has a reputation, and it's largely deserved. Projects that quietly triple in cost. Developers in a timezone eight hours away who go quiet for a fortnight. Code delivered as a black box that nobody else can maintain, so you're stuck with whoever built it forever.

Here's how we work instead.

01

Everything is built in the UK

No offshoring, no subcontracting it out and hoping. The people writing your code are the people you spoke to.

02

You get your own project manager

One named person, based here, who knows your project and your business. They're your single point of contact for the whole build. You're not raising tickets into a void.

03

You own the code

Outright, at the end, no strings. If you ever want to take it elsewhere, you can. We think that's the right way round, and it keeps us honest.

04

We're not going anywhere

We've been running since 2011 and we're a Google Partner. Plenty of our clients have been with us for years, which is generally a better signal than anything we could write about ourselves.

How it works

  1. 01

    Discovery call (free)

    We talk through what you're trying to fix. Sometimes the answer is custom software. Sometimes it's a £30 a month tool and we'll tell you that instead, because a project that shouldn't exist is bad for both of us.

  2. 02

    Scope and fixed quote

    We map out exactly what's being built, what it does, and what it costs. Fixed price, agreed before anything starts. If we've missed something, that's on us, not on your invoice.

  3. 03

    Build, in the open

    You see progress as it happens rather than waiting months for a reveal. Your project manager checks in on an agreed rhythm, and you can change your mind early, which is when changing your mind is cheap.

  4. 04

    Testing and launch

    We test it properly, we train your team on it, and we launch it.

  5. 05

    Support afterwards

    Software isn't a one off purchase, it's a thing that lives. Optional ongoing support and maintenance, or take the code and run it yourself. Your call.

What it costs

Honest answer: it depends what you're building. But you shouldn't have to sit through a sales call just to find out whether you're in the right ballpark, so here's roughly where projects land.

Smaller builds

£1,500 to £3,000

Calculators, single purpose tools, a custom plugin, connecting two systems together.

Typically two to four weeks

Mid sized builds

£3,000 to £10,000

Booking systems, customer portals, internal dashboards, more involved integrations.

Typically four to ten weeks

Larger builds

£10,000+

Multi user platforms, complex databases, systems that several parts of your business run on. Scoped individually.

Every project gets a fixed quote before we start, so the number you agree is the number you pay.

Get a fixed quote

Frequently asked questions

Smaller tools are usually two to four weeks. Mid sized projects run four to ten. Larger platforms are scoped individually. You'll get a timeline with your quote, not a vague promise.

Yes, outright. The code is yours. If you ever want to move it elsewhere or bring it in house, nothing stops you.

That's most people, and it's fine. The discovery call exists for exactly that. You describe the problem, we work out whether software is the answer, and what shape it should be.

Upfront, usually yes. Over three years, often not, once you add up subscriptions for tools that half fit and the staff hours spent working around them. We'll be straight with you about which way it falls for your situation.

Yes. Most of what we build plugs into what's already there. We don't insist on rebuilding everything first.

We offer ongoing support and maintenance, and we'd usually recommend it. But it's optional, not a lock in.

Our own team, here in the UK. Nothing is offshored or subcontracted.

Stand out with DME

Got a problem that software should probably solve?

Tell us what's not working. The first call is free, it's with someone who'll actually be on your project, and if custom isn't the right answer we'll say so.

Book a free discovery call

Your own account manager