Fixed prices, written down first.
Three kinds of work. Each one starts with a small, paid piece of thinking, so you see how I work before committing to the whole job. Prices are shapes, not quotes: your written scope gives the real number.
01 / Custom softwareTools shaped to how you already work.
For the job that lives in a spreadsheet, a whiteboard and somebody's memory. I build small web applications that do one job well: bookings, job tracking, quoting, stock, customer portals. Built on boring, well-supported technology so any competent developer could pick it up after me.
What you get
- A one-to-two page written scope with a fixed price
- A working app on a private link from week two
- Logins, roles and an audit trail where they matter
- Data exports, so your information is never trapped
- Source code in a repository you own
- Hand-over notes and a recorded walkthrough
Typical shape · 6–10 weeks
Week 1, discovery. I sit with the people who do the job (in person or on a call) and write the scope.
Weeks 2–7, build. A demo every week. You can change direction; the scope is updated in writing.
Final week, hand-over. Data moved across, staff shown round, documentation delivered.
Price shape
02 / Agentic automationAI that does the admin, and asks first.
Language models are now good at reading messy email, PDFs and forms, and drafting sensible next steps. They are not good at being left alone. I build agents that do the reading and drafting, and put a person in front of anything that costs money, leaves the building or can't be undone.
What you get
- One process automated end to end, not a chatbot
- An approval queue for decisions that need a human
- A log of every action, readable by non-developers
- A before-and-after measure we agree up front
- Cost caps on model usage, and alerts if they're near
- A plain off switch, and a manual fallback
Typical shape · 3–6 weeks
Map. We write down the process as it really happens, including the exceptions.
Pilot. The agent works on real, recent examples while you check every result.
Shadow, then live. It runs alongside your team for a week before anyone relies on it.
Price shape
03 / DevOps & self-hostingServers you understand and can leave.
For businesses paying for a dozen subscriptions, or running something important on a server nobody fully understands. I tidy up hosting, set up backups that are actually tested, and, where it makes sense, move services onto hardware or cloud accounts you own.
What you get
- An audit: what you run, what it costs, what could fail
- Backups with a restore test you can watch
- Monitoring that messages a person, not a dashboard
- Security updates applied on a schedule
- Remote access without opening ports to the internet
- A runbook, so anyone qualified can take over
Typical shape · 2–5 weeks
Audit. A written report with a costed plan. Yours to keep even if you go elsewhere.
Build and migrate. Done out of hours, with a rollback plan for every step.
Care, optional. Monthly updates, backup checks and a short written report.
Price shape
The small print, in large print.
Anything that doesn't fit the three shapes above is billed at a day rate of £520, agreed in writing before the day starts.
What if you're ill, or busy, or stop trading?
It's the right question to ask a one-person company. Everything I build is documented and kept in accounts you own, using common tools rather than anything of my own invention. If I disappeared tomorrow, another developer could read the hand-over notes and carry on. I'm happy to show you a sample before you commit.
Who owns the code?
You do, once the invoice is paid. It lives in your repository and on your hosting account from day one. I keep the right to reuse general techniques, never your data or business logic.
What happens to our data with AI automation?
I use model providers that don't train on business API data, and where the data is sensitive we can run smaller models on your own hardware instead. The written scope says exactly which service sees which data, so you can check it against your own obligations under UK GDPR.
Do you work with our existing software?
Usually, yes. Most accounting, CRM and booking tools have a way in. If one doesn't, I'll tell you during discovery rather than halfway through the build.
How do payments work?
Discovery, audits and pilots are paid up front. Builds are split: 40% to start, 40% at the halfway demo, 20% on hand-over. Care plans are monthly and can be cancelled with a month's notice.
Describe the job. I'll suggest the shape.
A few lines is enough. If the honest answer is “buy an off-the-shelf tool”, I'll say so and point you at one.
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