the retention record
anyone can win the pitch. the test is year four.
We design and operate software for long-term use. These relationships from the register are still producing work today.
- 10 yrs
- longest relationship
- 6
- past the four-year mark
- 226
- clients in the register
- 2015
- building since
Clutch
the relationships
six that outlasted the project that started them.
Described by sector rather than named, for the same reason as everywhere else on this site. What matters here is the duration and what accumulated inside it.
- 10 yrssince 2015
A global members' network
The longest relationship in the business. A platform on a custom framework, a Laravel API layer, a published PHP SDK, an exchange match engine, a wallet, an identity layer and an AI assistant line — plus a three-day performance push that dropped a 3.8MB icon webfont nobody's browser was using and migrated the web server underneath it.
- 9 yrssince 2017
A French language and cultural business
Maintenance and search work on the same web presence for eight years, then a formal two-project proposal in 2026 covering a full rebuild plus a second institute site. The clearest evidence of retention outside the UK market.
- 8 yrssince 2017
A UK aesthetic laser business
Four distinct systems for one client: a WooCommerce store behind a CDN, a patient portal handling treatment consent, an internal payroll application with role-based access, and a treatment guidance app. Still generating support tickets weekly.
- 8 yrssince 2018
A regional Indian news publisher
From a legacy stack to a Next.js rebuild, with a mobile app published in 2026. A complete modernisation story where the client stayed for the whole of it.
- 5 yrssince 2021
A UK delivery and logistics operator
Delivered through an agency partner, with the front end in their organisation and the backend in ours. Five years on the same platform, and when new engineers are onboarded they are pointed at the backend first — which tells you where the domain logic actually lives.
- 5 yrssince 2021
A UK boiler cover and home emergency provider
Conversion work scoped in hours against specific pages, infrastructure diagnosis, security incident response, and a full rebuild scoped five years in. The clearest example of how these relationships actually compound.
what it changes
optimising for year four changes what we refuse to build.
It is not a slogan — it is a constraint that shows up in specific decisions, most of which cost us something in the short term.
boring stacks on purpose
Asked to bring a new stack onto a platform handling live payments, the direction was explicit: use something the team will not struggle to support later.
scope changes are priced clearly
On a fixed-design build, the change requests were separated from what was already in scope, re-quoted, and the relationship held. Absorbing them silently is how year two gets resentful.
estimates backed by delivery evidence
Challenged on a timeline, the answer was specific: two developers in parallel, five weeks covers development only, testing and revisions sit on top. No padding, no defensiveness.
the right scope from the start
A client specified leave management at the depth of a dedicated HR platform inside a field-sales app. We declined and triaged it into a later phase.
cancelling things you pay for
A paid migration tool flagged for cancellation two days before renewal once the bulk work no longer needed it, and the client told. Costs nothing, worth a great deal.
handover as a planned ending
Store setup, tester invitations and production deployment taught to the client, then the repository transferred. Keeping the keys is the easier commercial choice.
Teams that trusted us with the thing that matters
UK · Europe · Worldwide
selected work
the work behind the relationships
Fifteen written up in full, with the numbers attached.
01B2B commerceThe engineering partnership behind a cross-border wholesale marketplace.
Next.js storefront, Python ingestion pipelines, DynamoDB data layer and AWS infrastructure.
02A commission-free ticketing platform built for ownership and scale.
Multi-organiser commerce, Stripe instalments and two native apps in one connected platform.
03Global logisticsEmbedded product engineering for a global shipping platform.
Rate, tax and duty calculators, server-rendered courier pages and a custom MongoDB CMS.
04A custom furniture marketplace engineered from storefront to infrastructure.
Server-rendered Next.js commerce over a Laravel API, bespoke operations tooling and re-architected AWS infrastructure.
05An AI-native operating system that runs a consultancy lead to invoice.
Discovery briefs, e-signed contracts, Stripe deposits, delivery milestones and time tracking in one operational system.
06A conversion platform for a growing UK boiler-cover provider.
Custom plan configuration, postcode-qualified lead journeys, CRM synchronisation and campaign landing pages.
07A custom Shopify store for a French beauty brand.
Custom theme, customer accounts, loyalty rewards, referrals and gift-with-purchase offers.
08Made-to-measure shutters with live pricing.
A seven-step product builder with live previews, sample orders and supplier tools.
09AdvertisingA self-service advertising platform for venues.
Campaign creation, audience targeting, in-app ads and reporting linked to venue check-ins.
10Social eventsAn events app with the tools to run it.
Mobile app, backend, advertising tools, a digital marketplace and website.
11Two mobile apps for real-time companionship.
Customer and buddy apps with per-minute billing, wallets, moderation and admin tools.
12Player profiles and discovery for youth football.
Verified profiles, video highlights, coach discovery and safeguarding on web and mobile.
13Websites and a talent platform for DeepSpatial.
Corporate and investor pages, the Xploor talent platform and ongoing releases on AWS Amplify.
14TravelTour bookings with a custom mobile-first checkout.
A multilingual website connected to the booking API, with deposits, coupons and affiliate tracking.
15One platform for tenders, contracts and accounts.
Supplier tenders, contract management, brokerage accounting and client records.
reviews · verified on clutch
the people who stayed
Founders and operators who lived with the result long after launch.
Clutch★★★★★5.0 / 5.0Across 18 independently published client reviews
“They have a deeper technical knowledge than any web designer I've met to date.”
faq
the honest questions
Is a long engagement just lock-in?
It would be, if we held the keys. You own the repository, the cloud accounts and the credentials from day one, and documented handover to your own team is a normal, planned ending. On one mobile build we ran a handover session covering store setup, tester invitations and production deployment, then transferred the repository. Most agencies keep the keys because the keys are the retention mechanism.
What actually keeps a client for eight years?
Being useful in the unglamorous moments. Diagnosing process exhaustion at 9pm, finding a certificate that failed to renew on a subdomain nobody watches, cancelling a paid tool two days before renewal because the migration no longer needs it. None of that is on a proposal, and all of it is why the rebuild comes to us four years later.
Do you turn work down?
Yes, and it is part of the same thing. We declined to quote an SEO programme that could not be delivered on the platform the client was then running, and said why. The work came back later on a platform where it could be done properly.
What if we want to leave?
You take it. There is no lock-in in the contract and none in the architecture either — that is a deliberate design constraint, not a courtesy.
where would you want us in year four?
A thirty-minute call with the engineer who would lead the work.