Client Rooms

Selected project chapters

We share selected case studies with the permission of our clients. Each chapter describes the situation we were brought into, the approach we took, and the outcome the client received. All client details are anonymised or shared with explicit permission.

Multi-screen operational platform for retail business, warm office environment
Systems Design Custom Programming UK · Wholesale Retail

Integrated Operations Platform for Multi-Site Wholesale Distributor

A wholesale distributor operating across seven UK locations had reached the limits of their patchwork of spreadsheets, email chains and legacy accounting software. Inventory visibility was poor, purchasing decisions were made on incomplete information, and the management team spent a significant portion of each week reconciling data from disparate sources rather than running the business.

We were engaged to design and build a central operational platform that would connect inventory management, purchasing, logistics tracking, and management reporting across all seven locations. The discovery process took three weeks and involved interviews with operations staff at four sites — a step we considered essential to understanding how the business actually functioned day to day, rather than how it was assumed to function.

The resulting system was designed as a modular platform with a shared data model, allowing each location to operate independently while management maintained a real-time view across the entire operation. We built a progressive web application that worked on the desktop computers already in use and on the tablets the warehouse teams carried. Staff onboarding documentation was produced in parallel with development and tested with actual users before go-live.

Outcome

Inventory reconciliation time reduced from approximately 14 hours per week to under two hours. Purchasing decisions are now based on live stock data across all locations. The system went live on schedule with no critical issues during the first month of operation.

System architecture whiteboard with service design diagrams
Architecture Design API Development UK · Financial Services

API Infrastructure Redesign for Financial Services Provider

A financial services firm providing lending products to small businesses had accumulated a technical infrastructure over eight years that had become increasingly difficult and costly to maintain. Their core systems — originally built as monolithic applications — could not support the integrations their business partners now required, and every new integration required expensive bespoke development work against brittle legacy code.

Our engagement began with a technical audit of the existing infrastructure. We mapped the data flows, identified the business logic embedded in the legacy code, and produced a clear picture of what needed to be preserved, what needed to be migrated and what could simply be retired. The audit findings shaped an architecture recommendation that phased the transition over eighteen months, allowing the business to continue operating normally while the new infrastructure was built alongside the old.

We designed and built a well-documented REST API layer that encapsulated the core business logic in a maintainable, testable structure. The new architecture enabled their business partners to integrate through a published API specification, reduced the cost of each new integration by approximately eighty percent, and gave the internal development team a foundation they could confidently extend.

Outcome

Five new business partner integrations were completed in the six months following launch — work that had previously required individual scoping, negotiation and development projects. The internal team reported a significant reduction in maintenance overhead within the first quarter.

Technical planning notes for a delivery scheduling application
Custom Programming Mobile Interface UK · Transport & Logistics

Delivery Scheduling and Route Management System

A regional logistics firm operating approximately thirty vehicles across the East of England was managing delivery scheduling through a combination of a commercial routing tool and manual telephone coordination between dispatchers and drivers. The commercial tool handled basic routing but had no integration with their customer management system, could not produce the management reporting their contracts required, and was approaching end-of-life support.

We were brought in to design and build a replacement system that would address all of these gaps. The brief was complex because of the real-time operational requirements — dispatchers needed to reassign deliveries and update routes during live operations, and drivers needed a simple mobile interface that worked on budget Android handsets with intermittent connectivity.

The system we delivered included a dispatcher web application for scheduling and monitoring, a driver mobile interface designed to function with limited connectivity and sync when connection was restored, a customer integration module pulling from their existing CRM, and an automated reporting suite producing the delivery performance reports their contracts required. We spent significant time on the dispatcher interface in particular, testing it with the actual dispatch team during development to ensure it matched their working patterns.

Outcome

Dispatcher coordination time reduced significantly. Delivery performance data is now captured automatically and contract reporting is generated with no manual compilation. The system has been in continuous operation for over two years without a reported critical issue.

Infrastructure work in a professionally managed server environment
Infrastructure Planning Cloud Migration UK · Professional Services

Cloud Infrastructure Migration for Professional Services Practice

A professional services firm with approximately eighty staff was operating from ageing on-premise server infrastructure that required urgent capital investment to continue operating at current performance levels. The IT manager had produced a preliminary assessment recommending a full migration to cloud infrastructure, but the management team lacked the technical confidence to evaluate the proposal independently or brief the board adequately on the associated risks and costs.

We were engaged to provide an independent technical assessment of the migration proposal, the vendor options under consideration, and the implementation approach. Our role was explicitly advisory — we were not asked to implement the migration, but to ensure that the decision being made was well-informed and that the implementation plan was sound before it was approved.

Our assessment identified two significant risks in the original migration plan, proposed a phased approach that reduced migration risk, and provided a comparative cost analysis across three vendor options that management had not previously considered. We produced a board-level briefing document that enabled the management team to present the decision with appropriate technical confidence and secure board approval within four weeks of our engagement commencing.

Outcome

The migration was approved on the basis of our revised approach, completed over fourteen weeks without operational disruption, and came in within five percent of the forecast cost. The firm avoided two significant risks that would have affected operational continuity during the migration.

A Note on Confidentiality

Why most of our work does not appear here

The case studies published on this page represent a small fraction of the work we have completed. The majority of our clients operate in competitive industries and have reasonably requested that their technical decisions, system designs and operational improvements remain confidential.

We respect these requests completely. If you are evaluating our practice and would like more information about our experience in a specific sector, the best approach is a direct conversation — we can speak to our relevant experience within the bounds of our confidentiality obligations, and we can provide references for clients who have agreed to speak with prospective new clients.

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Sectors we have worked in
Wholesale and retail distribution
Financial services and lending
Transport and logistics
Professional and business services
Scientific research and technical organisations
Manufacturing and operations
Healthcare and regulated environments
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Every case study began with a brief note and a conversation. If your organisation is facing a technical challenge, we would welcome the opportunity to understand it and tell you what we believe is possible.

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