What this costs
Most firms in this market will not give you a number until you have had two calls. Here is ours.
From £10,000
Most projects land between £15,000 and £55,000.
Every project is quoted at a fixed price against a written scope, so the figure you agree is the figure you pay. If you would rather test that before committing to a build, start with the free Operations Review below. Larger programme work is quoted individually.
What projects cost
ConnectOne integration, or one focused tool
Stock and orders kept in step between an accounts package and a sales channel.
£10,000 to £25,000
Typically 4 to 8 weeks
PlatformAn internal platform, bespoke CRM or client portal
The workbook an operation depends on, rebuilt as something several people can use at once, with the reporting leadership asks for every month arriving finished.
£25,000 to £55,000
Typically 8 to 16 weeks
ProgrammeA multi-part system, or a legacy replacement in stages
A system your team and your clients both log into, or an ageing one retired gradually while the business keeps trading.
£55,000 upward
Typically 3 to 6 months
Larger programme work is quoted individually. These are typical ranges rather than a price list, and the written quote is what counts.
Where most people start
Operations Review
Free
No obligation to build anything afterwards.
Three days spent watching the work as it is done now, ending in a written document: where the time actually goes, which parts an off-the-shelf product already solves, what is worth building, what each piece would cost, and the order to do it in.
It is useful on its own. Some of these end with us naming a product and telling you to spend nothing further, and the document is yours either way.
Keeping it running
A system is not finished when it launches. Security fixes come out all the time for the software any system is built on, and somebody has to apply them. A retainer covers that work. It is optional, and it is not a condition of the build.
Care
£750 a monthKeeping what we built running and up to date.
- Monitoring, backups and restore tested quarterly
- Updates for the system and everything it runs on, including every security fix
- Faults fixed within two working days
- A short written report each quarter
Care plus
£2,200 a monthEverything in Care, plus development capacity held for you.
- Two days of development each month, on whatever you decide it goes on
- Priority response, same working day
- A quarterly session on what to build next
- Unused days roll forward one month
What moves the number
How many systems it has to touch
A tool that stands alone is straightforward. One that reads from your accounting system, writes to your CRM and stays correct when either changes is a different job. Integration is usually the largest single line.
How messy the existing data is
Cleaning inconsistent records is frequently the longest part of a migration. We can only estimate this properly after seeing the data, so we scope it separately rather than guessing.
How many people use it, and how differently
One role doing one job is cheap. Five roles with different permissions, approvals and views is not.
Whether anyone is regulated
Audit trails, retention rules and access controls add real work. They are also the reason the software gets signed off, so they are rarely worth cutting.
Included in every quote
- Discovery on site or on a call, including watching the work as it is done now
- A written scope describing exactly what will exist at the end
- A fixed price against that scope, agreed before we start
- Build, testing and launch
- Security designed in: role-based access, an audit trail, and a review before anything goes live
- Handover of the system, everything needed to run it and the documentation
- Thirty days of fixes after launch at no extra cost
Charged separately
- Third-party licences and hosting, which you pay for directly and own
- Changes to the agreed scope, quoted separately so the original stays honest
- Ongoing support beyond the first thirty days, which is a separate retainer
Questions about cost
Why publish prices when most agencies do not?
Because hiding the number wastes everyone's time. If our floor is above your budget you should know that in thirty seconds rather than after two calls. It also means the conversations we do have start from the right place.
What if my project is under £10,000?
Then bespoke software is probably the wrong purchase, and we will usually tell you which off-the-shelf product to buy instead. Below that figure the cost of specifying, testing and documenting custom work outweighs what you get. If you are not certain which side of the line you are on, that is exactly what the free Operations Review answers.
Why is the Operations Review free?
Because it is how both sides find out whether a build is worth doing, and sometimes the answer is that it is not. It is also what lets us fix the price. A price worked out from watching the work as it is done now can be relied on, while one worked out from a description of the work is a guess.
Do we have to build with you after the review?
No. The written document is yours whether or not a build follows, and you are free to take it to another supplier or to buy a product instead. If you do go ahead with us, the build is quoted at a fixed price against a written scope, like any other project.
Is it fixed price or day rate?
Fixed price against a written scope for work taken on directly. You know the number before we start, and work outside that scope is quoted separately rather than absorbed, which keeps the original estimate meaningful. Agencies we deliver for are the exception, and are priced individually.
Do you work with other agencies?
Yes, white-label. We take overflow development for design and digital agencies, either on a day rate or fixed price against a written scope, priced individually according to the work and how much of it there is. Your brand stays on the delivery and we do not contact your client.
What does a retainer cost?
Care is £750 a month and covers monitoring, backups, security updates and fixing faults. Care plus is £2,200 a month and adds two days of development each month with same-day response. Most clients take one after launch; neither is a condition of the build.
Is security included, or is it charged separately?
Included. Role-based access, an audit trail and a review before launch are part of every build rather than a line you can decline. What does recur is security updates. Fixes for the software any system is built on come out all the time, and applying them is covered by a support retainer rather than by the build.
Do you take payment in stages?
Yes. Typically a deposit, one or two milestone payments, and a final payment on handover. The schedule is written into the scope.
What happens if the project runs over?
If the overrun is ours, the fixed price stands and we absorb it. If the scope changed, we quote the change before doing it. That distinction is why the scope is written down.
Tell us the number you have in mind
If it is under our floor we will point you at something off the shelf. If it is over, we will tell you what it buys.