A software developer in Colchester, on-site across Essex, Suffolk and London
Solve With Software is a software consultancy based at North Colchester Business Centre, founded in 2012. We take over the business systems companies across Essex, Suffolk and London still depend on, understand how they work, stabilise them and modernise them one safe step at a time. On-site when your system needs it, remote for the rest of the UK.
Free · 1 hour · no obligation
What we do for businesses in Essex, Suffolk and London
We take over business systems, stabilise them, modernise them and add AI to them. The systems are the ones companies run on: a VB6 order book from 2004, an Access database that grew into the whole operation, a .NET application whose developer retired, a spreadsheet that became the system, or a React app whose agency stopped replying.
The path is the same for every one of them. A free one-hour consultation, a legacy system assessment sized to your system from £395 + VAT, then a written report with costed options and a fixed price for each. The work that follows runs in stages, with working software at the end of every stage.
Where do you come to?
Colchester and the rest of Essex, Suffolk, and London, in person. We're based at North Colchester Business Centre, off the A12. Chelmsford, Braintree, Witham and Maldon are under an hour. Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds and the Suffolk coast are the same the other way. London is an hour by train from Colchester to Liverpool Street, which is how we reach clients in the City and the East End.
The rest of the UK is remote: screen sharing, access to the code, and calls with the people who use the system. Most of an assessment can be done that way for most systems. The consultation decides which yours is.
Why on-site matters for a takeover
A system is never only what's on the screen. It's the report the sales team builds in a spreadsheet because the system can't produce it, the printout on the wall by the despatch desk, the server that one person knows how to restart. None of that shows up on a screen share.
So an assessment includes a site visit when the system needs one. We sit with the people who use it and watch the work go through it. That's where the risks and the opportunities show up. The person who visits is the person who leads the work.
Sectors
Haulage, construction, legal, healthcare, financial services, education and membership organisations. Haulage and construction in particular are Essex trades, and the operations platforms behind them are the kind of system that grows for fifteen years and then outlives the people who built it. We describe our work by sector and system rather than by client name; the detail is on the About page.
Part of Colchester
Marc Allington, our founder, started Colchester Dev Club and built Colchester.Network, a community platform for local businesses. Colchester.Network sat on a registered domain for years because the build cost was too high. AI-assisted development brought that cost down, and it shipped in eight weeks. Both are the kind of thing you only build where you live.
What it costs
The consultation is free. The assessment is from £395 + VAT, with an exact price before you commit. After that, every option in the report carries a fixed price, so an overrun is our risk rather than yours. Payment terms and the care plan are on the pricing page.
Built here
- Founded in Colchester in 2012. Solve With Software Ltd, company number 08200237, registered office at North Colchester Business Centre, 340 The Crescent, Colchester, Essex CO4 9AD.
- Colchester.Network, a community platform for local businesses, designed and built in Colchester and shipped in eight weeks.
- Colchester Dev Club, founded by Marc Allington.
- On-site assessments across Essex, Suffolk and London, as part of every engagement that needs one.
Questions
What people ask before they book.
Do you only work with companies near Colchester?
No. On-site work covers Essex, Suffolk and London; the rest of the UK is remote, and most assessments can be done remotely for most systems. Being local matters most when the system needs someone in the room, and the consultation decides whether yours does.
Is a site visit included in the assessment?
When the system needs one, yes. The consultation decides, and the assessment price reflects it. Some systems can be understood entirely over a screen share; others need us in the room with the people who use them and with the server.
Our system was built by a local developer who has retired. Can you take it over?
Yes. It's one of the most common situations we see. The assessment establishes what you have: source code, documentation, a database you can access, or only a running installation. Each is workable, and the report sets out the options with a fixed price for each.
Do you work with London businesses?
Yes, on-site. Colchester to Liverpool Street is about an hour by train, which puts the City and the East End in reach for a day inside your system.
Can everything be done remotely?
Often, yes. Screen sharing, access to the code and calls with the people who use the system cover most of an assessment. Where a system needs a visit, we say so on the consultation.
Start with a free consultation
An hour on your system, online or by phone. From there we size the assessment, from £395 + VAT, and give you an exact price before you commit.
Want the numbers first? See how pricing works.
Written by Marc Allington, founder. .