Take Over an Orphaned System

Your developer has gone. Your system still needs looking after.

Many businesses depend on a bespoke system whose original developer has moved on, leaving no documentation and nobody who understands it. I take these systems over: first understanding exactly what you have and the risks, then keeping it running and improving it.

Start a project

Sound familiar?

The person who built your system has left, retired or stopped responding
Nobody can say where the code is, how it's deployed or who holds the passwords
You're afraid to change anything in case it breaks
Your system is on an unsupported framework, such as .NET 8 after November 2026

What you get

Recovery of code, hosting, domains and accounts into your ownership
A fixed-price takeover audit: architecture, risks, security and upgrade needs
Documentation and a working deployment process
Immediate fixes for anything critical
A clear plan: care plan, upgrade or staged modernisation

Ways to work together

Every engagement starts with a small, paid, fixed-price first step. That's where requirements are gathered and the scope and cost estimate for the rest of the work are written, so you know what you're committing to.

Takeover audit

from £1,500

A written report on what you have, the risks and what to do next.

Stabilise

Estimated in the audit

Critical fixes, security, backups and a repeatable deployment.

Ongoing care

Care plan

Keep it secure and current on a monthly plan.

Job, stock and invoicing system for a drivetrain repair workshop

A bespoke system that runs a UK drivetrain repair and parts business day to day, from booking a job in to month-end reporting. In daily use for more than 11 years.

Read the case study Retail · 15+ years

Gallery management and e-commerce for a Scottish art gallery

Online sales, cataloguing and gallery administration for a Glasgow gallery of original Scottish art: around 28,000 artworks from about 500 artists, re-platformed twice.

Read the case study Public sector