North East England
Durham is a small city with an outsized reputation: a World Heritage cathedral and castle, a collegiate university and, out in the county, a science park counted among the UK's premier technology sites. We build websites and web software for the organisations that make up that economy, and we work with each of them remotely, in clear stages, with a written proposal agreed before anything is built.
Local context
The historic centre stands on a tight meander of the River Wear, which wraps around the peninsula on three sides. Monks from Lindisfarne settled there in 995 with the body of St Cuthbert, and after the Norman Conquest their church was replaced by the present cathedral, where the bones of the Venerable Bede also lie. Together with the castle across Palace Green, the cathedral was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1986, and from the 1070s until 1836 the city lay within the County Palatine of Durham, a semi-independent territory ruled by its prince-bishops.
Around that core sits Durham University, a collegiate university founded in 1832 that today shares stewardship of the World Heritage Site with the cathedral, the county council and St John's College. Students, researchers, staff and visitors keep cafés, guest houses, letting agents and shops busy through the year, and much of the city's private sector is built around serving them. Visit County Durham promotes the cathedral and castle alongside attractions further out such as The Auckland Project, Raby Castle, Beamish Museum and Kynren.
Science gives the county a second engine. At Sedgefield, Business Durham manages NETPark, which it describes as home to more than forty science and technology companies alongside CPI and Durham University, with two Catapults and three national innovation centres on site. For a technical spin-out or a growing lab business, that means customers, collaborators and investors who expect polished, dependable software from day one.
Sectors
Cathedrals, castles, museums and tour guides need timed tickets, group bookings, donations and gift aid handled in one place. We build ticketing and visitor journeys that cope with busy festival weekends and quiet winter weekdays alike.
Tutoring agencies, language schools and student accommodation providers juggle enrolments, timetables and parent or tenant messages. A purpose-built portal replaces separate forms, inboxes and payment links.
Businesses on the county's science parks often need customer portals for instruments or services, order and sample tracking, or a SaaS front end for their technology. We work alongside scientists who know their field and need the software to match.
With a large student population, letting agents and landlords deal with yearly tenancy cycles, viewings and maintenance requests. We build tenant portals and repair logging that keep records tidy for each property.
Guest houses, restaurants and shops in the old city want direct bookings and online sales that do not rely on a marketplace, plus gift vouchers for visitors who want to come back.
Common requests
The city's mix of visitors, students and scientists produces some distinctive requests.
Slots with capacity limits, school and coach group bookings, add-ons such as guided tours, and a door list staff can check on a tablet.
Enrolments, tenancies and renewals that repeat each academic year, with reminders, document collection and deadlines tracked by the system.
Customer accounts, order history, data downloads and support requests for a lab service or instrument, built to a standard that reflects the science behind it.
Clear, well-structured pages that work with screen readers and on older phones, important for public-facing heritage and education organisations.
Services
For Durham attractions, schools and firms we build websites that are accessible, fast and easy for non-technical staff to update, with event and opening information people can find straight from a search.
From a booking engine for a heritage venue to sample tracking for a lab, we build web applications around the way your Durham team really works, including the awkward exceptions.
Visitor teams, tutors and lab staff can share one installable web app across phones, tablets and desktops, so a guide checking tickets and a manager reviewing numbers see the same live data.
Science spin-outs and education start-ups from the county can turn specialist knowledge into a subscription product, with secure accounts, usage-based or tiered plans and an admin console.
Gift shops, local producers and independent retailers in Durham can sell online with gift vouchers, click-and-collect and shipping options suited to fragile or bulky items.
We connect ticketing, accounting, CRM, payment and student or tenant systems, so a booking or enrolment taken online flows straight into the tools you already run.
How we work
Every Durham project is handled at a distance, which tends to suit organisations whose people are spread across a busy site, a lab or a lecture timetable. Conversations happen on video at a time you choose, and we follow each one with a short written summary so colleagues who could not attend stay informed.
We agree a written proposal with scope, milestones and price before work begins. At each milestone you test working software, and the history of every decision, file and invoice is kept in your client panel.
A video call to understand the business, the people who will use the software and what has to change.
Scope, milestones and price in writing. Nothing starts until you accept it.
Each milestone is reviewed with you; progress, files and decisions stay in your client panel.
Go-live when you are ready, then maintenance and hosting if you want them.
Nearby
Sources
FAQ
Prefer to give the full picture? The quote wizard asks about your business, your current systems and what should change, and we reply with a clear, competitive proposal.