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How we work together

How engagements are shaped and priced.

Most technology quotes arrive as a single number with no explanation, which makes them impossible to compare. This page sets out how we scope work, the three shapes an engagement takes, and what actually moves the price — so you can judge any proposal, ours included.

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Three shapes

Every engagement is one of three things.

01

Fixed-scope project

The requirement is well understood and the finish line is clear.

A written scope, a phased plan and a fixed price. Change is handled through a documented variation rather than a surprise on the invoice.

  • A website or web platform
  • A defined internal tool
  • A migration with a known target
  • A security assessment

Worth knowing. Fixed price needs fixed scope. If the requirement is still moving, a fixed quote either carries a large risk margin or turns into an argument later. Discovery first is cheaper than both.

02

Phased programme

The destination is clear but the route is not, which is usual for business systems.

Priced and approved one phase at a time. Each phase delivers something usable, and you decide whether to continue before the next is committed.

  • ERP and operations platforms
  • Multi-module business systems
  • AI work where accuracy has to be proven first
  • Anything replacing a system people depend on daily

Worth knowing. This is the honest model for large builds, and it means we cannot give you one number at the start. What we can give you is the price of phase one and a considered estimate of the whole.

03

Monthly retainer

The work is ongoing rather than a project with an end.

A monthly fee against an agreed scope of service, with a named contact and a defined response window. Reviewed quarterly.

  • Managed IT and support
  • Infrastructure monitoring and patching
  • Continued development on a live system
  • Security operations

Worth knowing. A retainer should state what is included and what is billed separately. If it does not, you will find out during an incident.

Before pricing

Before any of that: discovery

Nothing above can be priced honestly without understanding the work. Discovery is a small, paid, fixed-price piece that produces something useful whether or not you continue with us.

  • 01We sit with the people doing the work and document the process as it actually runs, including the workarounds
  • 02We map the systems and the data that moves between them
  • 03We produce a written scope, an architecture, a phased plan and a price
  • 04You own that document. If you take it to another supplier, it is still valid
Cost

What actually moves the price

Increases

Integrations with systems we do not control

Each external system is an unknown until we have credentials and documentation. Two integrations is not twice one.

Increases

Data migration from a live system

Migrating clean data is straightforward. Migrating fifteen years of accumulated exceptions is the part that takes the time.

Increases

Users with genuinely different needs

Three roles with different permissions and screens is close to three times one role.

Increases

Compliance or audit requirements

Audit trails, retention rules and access reviews are engineering, not configuration.

Reduces

A process you are willing to simplify first

The cheapest feature is the one you decide you do not need. Discovery usually finds several.

Reduces

Phasing the work

Delivering the highest-value third first often removes the appetite for the rest — which saves you money.

Reduces

Keeping systems that already work

We integrate rather than replace wherever the sums favour it.

Always

What is true of every engagement

01

You own everything

Source code, repositories, cloud accounts, domains and data are yours, with documentation. We do not build dependencies designed to make leaving difficult.

02

Itemised quotations

Every proposal is broken down so you can see what each part costs and remove anything you do not want.

03

No margin hidden in hardware

Hardware is quoted at cost plus a stated handling fee, not marked up invisibly.

04

Change is written down

Scope changes get a variation with a price and a schedule impact, agreed before the work happens.

05

We will tell you not to build

If an off-the-shelf product does the job, or the problem is not worth solving with software yet, that is the advice you will get.

Pricing

Questions about cost and commitment

For a website or a defined tool, we will — after a short conversation. For a business platform, any number given before understanding your process is a guess, and a guess that is too low becomes a change-request argument while a guess that is too high loses the work. Discovery exists so the number is real.

Get a number that means something.

Tell us what you are trying to fix. If it can be scoped in a conversation we will price it in a conversation, and if it cannot we will say what discovery would involve.

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