Custom software & automation

The work that has
no ready-made fix.

Alongside websites we build and run custom integration work — the jobs where off-the-shelf connectors stop and somebody ends up doing it by hand instead. Quoted per project, after a conversation about what it actually involves.

Looking for a website instead? That's the main thing we do — websites for small businesses.


Four kinds of work, hardest to replace first.

01
System integration

Getting two systems to talk when there's no ready-made way

Off-the-shelf connectors cover the popular software and stop. Trade and industry programs, older systems, county and supplier portals — those have nothing, which is exactly why nobody has automated them yet. That's the work we take.

  • Typing the same thing into two systems
  • A portal you have to log into and check by hand
  • One change meaning three places need updating
02
Document and email handling

Reading the things a person currently has to read

Invoices, forms, PDFs and long email threads, turned into records in your system instead of somebody's afternoon. This is the part that genuinely could not be done a few years ago, and it is where most of the hours actually are.

  • Typing what's on a PDF into a computer
  • Sorting the inbox before you can start work
  • Reading a 40-message thread to find one answer
03
Chasing and follow-up

The asking that only happens when somebody remembers

Documents, quotes, onboarding steps and no-shows — chased on a schedule, stopped the moment they land, and escalated to you only when something is genuinely odd.

  • Asking three times for the same document
  • New clients who never send their paperwork
  • Meaning to follow up and forgetting
04
Reporting and routing

The Monday report, and getting work to the right person

Numbers pulled from wherever they live and sent without anyone building them, plus new work sorted and routed by your rules rather than by whoever opens it first.

  • Building the same report every Monday
  • New inquiries landing in the wrong place
  • Waiting hours to reply to a new inquiry

Some of what people ask for, they already own. Your accounting software probably sends payment reminders and nobody switched it on. We'll tell you which of these you're already paying for and how to turn it on — free, and without trying to sell you a build on top of it.


We run the servers too, not just the workflows.

Plenty of people can wire up a hosted automation tool. Fewer can stand the thing up on a private server and keep it alive — nginx, Postgres, systemd units, SSL, backups, and the Python and API work around them when a client's system has no clean way in.

01
Self-hosted deploymentOn your infrastructure or ours. No per-seat licensing and no data leaving where you want it.
02
Integration with no connectorTrade software, older systems, county and supplier portals — the ones nothing off the shelf talks to.
03
Python and API workWhere the job needs real code rather than boxes joined by arrows.
04
It keeps runningMonitored, and fixed when something upstream changes underneath it.

Automation

How this work gets scoped and built.
How do you know it's worth automating?

Hours a week times what the hour costs you, against the price. If it works out to longer than a year before it pays for itself, don't do it — and we'll tell you that on the call rather than after the invoice.

How long does an automation take to build?

Most are running in one to two weeks. Something that has to talk to a system with no proper way in takes longer, and we'll say which one yours is on the call rather than after you've paid. Nothing sits in a backlog — if we've taken the job, it's being worked on.

Do we have to change the tools we use?

No. We build around what you already have — that's the point. Your team's day doesn't change and there's nothing new for anyone to log into. If a tool genuinely can't be connected we'll tell you before you pay, not halfway through.

Isn't this stuff built into our software already?

Some of it, honestly, yes. Your accounting software probably sends payment reminders and your CRM probably has follow-up sequences — and most people have never switched them on. We'll tell you which of those you already own and how to turn them on, free, and we won't quote you to build something you're already paying for. What's left after that is the work worth doing.

Is our data safe, and does AI see it?

Some of these use AI to read documents and messages — that's what makes them possible. We'll tell you exactly which parts, which service, and what it touches before you agree to anything, in writing. If you'd rather a step stayed rules-only, we build it that way.

Working together

Ownership, access, and what happens if you leave.
What do you need from me?

What if I don't like it?

What if it doesn't work?

We fix it. If it doesn't do what we said, that's our problem, not another invoice.

What happens if something breaks later?

Email us and we fix it. If it's something we built, that's not a new invoice — there's no plan you needed to be on. Building something new is a separate quote.

Who owns what you build?

You do, on final payment — pages, words, images. We reuse our own code the way any builder reuses their methods, but nothing specific to your business goes near another client.

What if I want to leave?

You take it with you. You already own the domain; we hand over the files and help you move to another host. No notice, no exit fee, nothing held back.


Tell us what you're
sick of doing by hand.

A short call where you describe the process and we tell you honestly whether it's worth automating, what it would involve, and whether your existing software already does it.

We reply within one business day. If you leave a website address we'll have looked at it before we do. We use this to reply to you and nothing else — no list, no sharing. What we do with it.

Start a conversationQuoted per project, after we've talked