Bespoke software
CRM, ERP, databases, customer portals and internal tools built from scratch. No licence fees per seat, no features you will never use, no waiting on someone else's roadmap.
Bespoke software development
Bespoke software . West Yorkshire
Bespoke software
Bespoke software
development
Dev Moves is a UK software development agency for bespoke business systems. We build around your process and agree ownership before work starts.
Our toolkit
Technologies we build with
Mature, boring, well-supported tools. Nothing here is a bet on a framework that will be abandoned in two years. Project code and any platform licence are documented at handover.
PHP
Laravel
Livewire
MySQL
PostgreSQL
Redis
Node.js
Nginx
Linux
Docker
Git
GitHub
HTML5
CSS
JavaScript
TypeScript
React
Vue.js
Alpine.js
Tailwind CSS
Bootstrap
Sass
Vite
WordPress
WooCommerce
Shopify
Magento
Stripe
What we build
Software development services
A system that does not exist yet. One that has stopped keeping up. Or a website that has stopped earning its place.
Legacy modernisation
That Access database, that spreadsheet everyone is scared to touch, that system whose developer left in 2015. We migrate the data and rebuild it properly, without stopping the business.
Legacy software modernisationWeb design and development
Brochure sites, ecommerce and web applications. Choose WordPress web design when publishing is the main job. Every site is tested with our website accessibility checklist. You get a CMS your team can run.
Small business web designAPI integration services
Get your systems talking to each other, and to everyone else's.
Ecommerce website development
Storefronts, stock, pricing rules and order flows that fit your margins.
Customer portal software
Give clients a login instead of an inbox full of status requests.
IoT software development
Hardware sending data somewhere useful, and dashboards that read it.
Selected work
Software we have built
Country Cover Club
Insurance membershipA membership platform for a country sports insurance association. Members choose a tier, buy cover online and get their certificate as a PDF in minutes. Behind the front end sits the member area, the renewals cycle and the back office the team runs it all from.
- Member portal
- Online payments
- PDF certificates
- Renewals
Built with
Laravel
MySQL
Visit ccc3.co.uk
Easy Care Solutions
EcommerceContinence care ecommerce with a catalogue that has to be filtered five different ways - by user, product, brand, size and absorbency - alongside repeat subscriptions and a delivery cut-off that counts down against the courier.
- Faceted search
- Subscriptions
- Delivery cut-offs
- Trade accounts
Built with
Laravel
MySQL
Visit easycaresolutions.co.uk
ISM Facilities Services
Facilities managementA nationwide facilities business with four service arms - hygiene, technology and robotics, recycling and waste, and integrated services - plus a separate client portal. The catalogue had to sell all four without reading as four different companies.
- Service catalogue
- Client portal
- Multi-brand
Built with
Laravel
MySQL
Visit ism-fs.co.uk
Adviser Hub
Members platformA members platform for financial advisers. Gated market updates and analysis, business and marketing toolkits, video and podcast libraries, an events calendar, and a partner zone carrying sponsored placements from the fund houses.
- Gated content
- Media library
- Partner zone
- Events
Built with
Laravel
MySQL
Visit adviser-hub.co.uk
BlowMotion
EcommerceHand dryer ecommerce for a UK market leader trading since 2012. Filtering by colour, sector and feature, a price match promise, and an order countdown wired to the next delivery slot.
- Product filtering
- Price matching
- Order cut-offs
- Reviews
Built with
Laravel
MySQL
Visit blowmotion.co.uk
Cornish Wave
Booking platformSurf school and adventure booking in Newquay. Lessons, coasteering, kayak and paddleboard sessions, multi-day camps, stag and hen groups, hire and accommodation all book through one system, with participation forms collected up front.
- Online booking
- Group bookings
- Participation forms
Built with
Laravel
MySQL
Visit cornishwave.com
Plain english
What a bespoke software development company does
Bespoke software is built for one business rather than sold to many. Instead of changing how you work to suit a product, the software is written around the process you already have.
Off-the-shelf software is a good deal when it fits your work. The trouble starts when it does not. You pay for seats nobody uses. You wait for a feature that never comes. Then spreadsheets grow around the gaps. At that point the software costs you twice.
Signs you have outgrown what you are on
- The real process lives in a spreadsheet next to the system.
- The same data gets typed into two places.
- You are paying per seat for features nobody opens.
- A report the business needs takes someone a day by hand.
- The feature you need is "on the roadmap" and has been a year.
- One person understands the old system and they are retiring.
When bespoke is the wrong answer
If an off-the-shelf product already fits how you work, buy it. Bespoke costs more up front, takes longer to get going and needs looking after. It earns its place when the fit is the problem. A low-risk AI prototype can also help test an idea. Our guide explains when AI-built business software is safe.
Honest comparison
Bespoke against off-the-shelf
Neither one wins on every line. This is the trade you are actually making.
| Compared on | Off-the-shelf Rent someone else's product | Bespoke Own the one built for you |
|---|---|---|
| Up-front cost | Low, often nothing | Higher - it has to be built |
| Cost over time | Per user, per month, forever | Build once, then support |
| Time to get going | Same day | Weeks of build before you log in |
| Fit to your process | You adapt to the product | Built around how you work |
| New features | When the vendor decides | When you decide |
| Who owns it | The vendor. You rent access | New code is yours. Zeus is licensed |
| If the supplier goes | You migrate, at short notice | You keep the agreed code and licence |
| Support | Included, at their pace | Yours to arrange |
| Rows won | 3 of 8 | 5 of 8 |
Most businesses end up running both. The question is which jobs belong on which side.
Legacy modernisation
Legacy software modernisation
The Access database. The spreadsheet with the macros. The system whose developer left in 2015.
We migrate the data first and rebuild the functionality around it, in phases, so the business keeps trading while it happens. Nobody gets a big-bang switchover on a Monday morning.
Legacy modernisation
How it works
How our software development process works
You will know the scope and the cost before anyone writes a line of code.
-
01
We talk
What the business does, what systems you are on now, and where the friction is. Usually a 30 minute call. No pitch deck.
-
02
We scope it
You get a written software specification with a fixed price. If the scope is too large to price fairly, we split it into phases and price the first one.
-
03
We build it
You see working software early. We use user acceptance testing before launch. Handover includes the agreed code or Zeus licence, plus clear notes. Support can then continue for as long as you need it.
Integrations
Software integrations
Most of the waste in a business is someone re-typing something that already exists somewhere else.
Orders from the website into the accounts package. Stock levels from the warehouse onto the site. Customer records that are the same record everywhere. We build the connections, and we build them to fail loudly rather than quietly.
API developmentAlready running one of these?
Then we can connect to it. That includes Microsoft 365, Salesforce and Slack. An API or nightly file drop can be enough.
Accounting and payments
- Xero
- Sage
- QuickBooks
- Stripe
- PayPal
- Klarna
Ecommerce
- Shopify
- WooCommerce
- BigCommerce
- WordPress
- eBay
- Etsy
Sales and marketing
- HubSpot
- Zoho
- Mailchimp
- Google Ads
- Analytics
- Zapier
Operations and shipping
- Sheets
- Dropbox
- Asana
- DPD
- DHL
- UPS
What it costs
What bespoke software costs
Anyone quoting you a figure before they understand the scope is guessing, and you will pay for the guess later.
Scope drives almost all of the cost. We count the screens and user roles. We check how much old data must move. We also list every system that must connect. Those points shape the price far more than the choice of coding tools.
So we scope it first, put it in writing, and fix a price against that document. You agree to a number, not to an hourly rate that can run. If the scope is too big to price honestly in one go, we break it into phases and price the first one.
What moves the price
Scope: screens, roles, rules
Data migration from the old system
Integrations with other software
Reporting and permissions
Design polish
Relative weight, not a quote. Every project sits differently.
Get it scoped
Who we build for
Sectors we have shipped in
We are not sector specialists. The common thread is a business running a process that no product was built for.
Ecommerce and retail
Catalogues, faceted search, subscriptions and order flows.
Easy Care Solutions, BlowMotion, Pret A Vivre
Insurance and membership
Cover bought online, certificates issued, renewals chased.
Country Cover Club
Facilities management
Multi-service catalogues and a separate client portal.
ISM Facilities Services
Financial services
Gated content, media libraries and partner placements.
Adviser Hub
Leisure and activities
Booking, group bookings and participation forms.
Cornish Wave
Trades and home improvement
Product showcases and lead capture that actually converts.
Finesse Windows, NDC
Common questions
Common questions
Straight answers, including the ones that are not in our favour.
What is bespoke software?
Bespoke software is built for one business rather than sold to many. Instead of changing how you work to suit a product, the software is written around the process you already have. It is also called custom software, and the two mean the same thing.
How much does bespoke software cost?
There is no honest single figure, because scope drives almost all of the cost. The number of screens, the number of user roles, how much data has to move across from an old system and how many other systems it has to talk to matter far more than anything else. We scope the work first and put a fixed price against that written spec, so you are agreeing to a number rather than an hourly rate that can run.
What are the downsides of bespoke software?
It costs more up front than a monthly subscription, and it takes longer to get going because it has to be built. It also needs someone to look after it afterwards. Bespoke is the wrong answer if an off-the-shelf product already fits how you work; it earns its place when the fit is the problem.
When is it worth moving off off-the-shelf software?
Usually when the workarounds cost more than the software. If your team keeps things in side spreadsheets, pays for seats nobody uses, re-keys the same data into two systems, or waits on a vendor roadmap for a feature the business needs now, the fit has stopped working.
Who owns the code you write?
It depends on the build. If we create a new codebase for you, you own that code and its documentation. If the project uses our Zeus Laravel CMS, Dev Moves keeps ownership of Zeus and licenses it to you. We package the project-specific frontend separately, and you own it. Reusing Zeus lowers the build cost because the core platform already exists.
Do you only work with businesses in West Yorkshire?
No. We are based in Pontefract and see local clients face to face, but we build for businesses across the UK and most projects run remotely.
Next step
Tell us about the software problem
Describe the process that is eating your week. We will tell you honestly whether custom software is the right answer, and roughly what it would cost.
- Pontefract, West Yorkshire
- Building for businesses across the UK
- Reply within 1 working day
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