Bespoke software development
Bespoke software is a system built for your business rather than rented from someone else. It does the specific things you need, connects to the tools you already use, and you own it outright once it is paid for. It is usually the answer when the off the shelf option almost fits and somebody is filling the gap by hand.
What the workaround is costing you
Nobody sets out to run a business on a spreadsheet nobody dares change. It builds up one patch at a time until the whole thing depends on it. By then the cost is hidden in a morning a week here, a licence there, and somebody spending half their job copying between two systems.
You are paying for seats nobody uses
You pay per user for software that only three of your eight people ever open. That bill arrives every month whether they use it or not.
Somebody is the integration
A person moving data between two systems by hand is a system, just a slow one that takes holidays.
You cannot get at your own numbers
If answering a simple question means exporting to a spreadsheet first, the answer usually does not get asked for.
What changes once the software is running
The job somebody used to do by hand every Tuesday now happens on its own. Your systems hold the same numbers, so you get the same answer wherever you look, and the spreadsheet everyone worked around is no longer needed. It fits how you work because it was built by watching you work, and the code is yours to keep.
- The workaround retires.
- The answer is the same wherever you look it up.
Tell us what you need and a fixed price comes back the same working day.
What bespoke software is made of
Custom software earns its keep in one specific situation: the off the shelf option almost fits, and the gap between almost and actually is being filled by a person doing something by hand every week. When that is you, here is what building your own consists of.
Watching the work first
Before anything is written we watch the job being done, find the spreadsheet everyone works around, and agree the smallest piece that would genuinely help. The useful detail lives in the workaround rather than in the brief.
The smallest useful piece, early
Something in your hands within weeks, doing one job properly. You use it, we adjust, and it grows from there only as far as it earns the right to.
Your rules, built in
Your pricing, your exceptions, the way you actually quote and invoice and schedule. The software follows how the business works rather than the other way round.
Systems that agree with each other
The tools you already use, connected so data is entered once and shows up everywhere it should. Jobs that run overnight and email you the result in the morning.
The boring parts, done properly
Backups, access control, an audit trail of who changed what. Unnoticed on a good day and exactly what you want on a bad one.
Yours outright
Your repository, your accounts, your code, documented in tools any developer can pick up. It is an asset you own, with no licence renewing every year.
Know what you need already? Tell us in a couple of lines and you get a fixed price against a written scope, the same working day.
One we built
MyBizRanked
Software productA product we built and run ourselves. It audits any Google Business Profile and reports what is holding that business back in local search.
What we did
- Built as a real product rather than an internal tool, and shipped
- Runs unattended, with the checks deterministic rather than guessed
- Live and in use since June 2026
- Owned outright by us, which is how we sell it to everybody else
Live since June 2026, auditing any Google Business Profile on demand.
See the full case studiesWhat we build
We build customer and job systems that match how you really work, internal tools that replace the spreadsheet everybody is frightened of, and portals so customers can help themselves rather than ringing. Jobs run themselves overnight and email you the result.
Data gets cleaned, joined and made trustworthy, and integrations are put in so two systems stop disagreeing with each other. Dashboards answer the question you keep asking, and the parts nobody enjoys are done properly: backups, access control and an audit trail.
Have you done this before?
Products and systems Fixr Systems has shipped and runs, with the scale of each documented.
Off the shelf software makes you work its way. Something built for you works your way, and once it is paid for you own it, so there is no licence renewing every year for features nobody uses.
Ben Criddle, who builds everything Fixr Systems ships
Seen enough? Tell us what you do and where you work, and a fixed price against a written scope comes back the same working day.
What happens next
We start by watching the job being done, because the useful detail lives in the workaround somebody repeats every Tuesday. Then we build the smallest piece that would genuinely help and put it in your hands early, rather than disappearing for a year. You use it, we adjust, and it only grows if that first piece earned it.
Most projects take up to two weeks. Some are quicker, some take longer, and the scope decides which.
Any system holding customer records has UK data protection duties, and we build to them rather than around them. GOV.UK, data protection
What it costs
Bespoke software starts from £2,000 for a focused first piece. Larger systems are built in stages, each quoted before it starts.
You get a fixed quote before anything starts, and the price you agree is the price you pay. Pay up front, a deposit, or 50/50 depending on the project, and Klarna is available on most. Smaller and larger projects are priced appropriately.
What if you disappear?
- The code is yours, in your repository, on your accounts, an asset you own outright.
- It is documented and built with tools any competent developer can pick up.
- You can stop after the first stage and keep what is built.
Before you ask
How much does bespoke software cost?
Bespoke software development starts from £2,000 for something focused that does one job properly. Larger systems are built in stages, each quoted before it starts, so you see something working early and grow it from there. If your idea is smaller than that, ask, because we are happier doing a modest thing well than turning you away.
Who owns the code?
You do. It goes in your repository, on your accounts, and you can take it anywhere you like.
What if you get hit by a bus?
Fair question and you should ask it of anyone. The code is yours, it is documented, and it is built with tools any competent developer can pick up, so you are covered whatever happens.
Is it not cheaper to just buy something?
Often, yes, and when it is we will say so. The maths usually turns when the licence fees plus the manual work cost more each year than building it once.
How do I know it will work before I spend the money?
We start with the smallest useful piece, get it in your hands, and only then talk about the rest. You should be able to stop after the first stage and still have something worth having.
Can it work with the software we already pay for?
Usually, yes, and that is often the point of building it. Most accounting, calendar and payment tools have a way of being connected, so the new system reads from them and writes back rather than becoming a second place to type the same thing. Where a tool has no way in, we say so before you commit and design around it.
Ready when you are.
Written and kept up to date by Ben Criddle, who builds everything Fixr Systems ships.Last reviewed 2 September 2026