Custom software development in Manchester

Where the cost hides before you build

The team is full, so the next step looks like another hire. Look closer and a good part of the week goes on work software should do: typing the same job details into three tools, asking a colleague where something stands, rebuilding the same report every Friday.

Each rented tool does one part of the job. Your people are the glue between them, and you pay skilled staff to move information around.

What we build

• Internal tools. One screen for the clients, jobs and tasks your team works from, with permissions by role. Work stops living in inboxes and spreadsheets, so the same team can carry more before you hire.
• Web apps and SaaS builds. A product your customers log in to and pay for. This fits when you hold knowledge or a service that could be sold as software.
• Client portals. A login where clients see progress, files and messages, so they stop chasing you for updates.

For MRM Group, a UK property development and investment company, we built an authenticated internal command centre for clients, deals and tasks, with document handling, reminders and audit history. That describes the build. We publish no result figures for it.

What is it worth? Do the sum

For an internal tool the lever is time back, and time only counts once it is in pounds. The system pays in three steps:

1. The audit lists every place the same details are typed twice.
2. One tool holds the record, and your other systems read from it.
3. Status updates, reminders and reports run on their own. A person still approves anything involving money or a message sent in your name.

Example figures. Swap in your own.

Ask each person to tally, for one week, the hours spent copying, chasing and rebuilding reports. If you plan to sell a product, the sum is subscribers × monthly price × months instead.

Bring your figure to a call. The audit report then prices each problem.

When off-the-shelf software is enough

If a rented tool already fits how you work and you use most of it, keep it. A custom build earns its place when you bend your process around a tool, pay for several that do not talk to each other, or need something no product offers. Our comparison of custom software and rented software sets out the trade-off.

How pricing works

Every build is scoped and priced in writing after an audit. You get a range before the audit and a fixed price after the written scope, which also sets the timeline.

Running costs such as hosting are paid directly to the providers from your own accounts. You can see how pricing works nationally.

Where we work around Manchester

We are a service-area business working across Greater Manchester and Cheshire, including Salford, Stockport and Warrington. In-person meetings across Manchester and Cheshire are available on request. Our Manchester AI automation agency page covers the rest of what we do.