Custom Software Development · Macclesfield · Cheshire
Custom Software Development in Macclesfield
Macclesfield is dominated by AstraZeneca — the UK's biggest pharmaceutical manufacturing site and one of the company's largest global IT hubs — within the Cheshire science corridor. Around that base sit many established SMEs on ageing systems.
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Macclesfield's quiet software problem
Macclesfield sits within one of the UK's strongest science and technology clusters, dominated by AstraZeneca's major pharmaceutical manufacturing and global IT operations, alongside a wider Cheshire base of manufacturing, creative and digital businesses.
Around the big science employer, established SMEs and suppliers carry their own software debt: production and job data across packages, compliance and reporting that take days, processes that depend on one experienced person.
We fix the specific points where an ageing system is costing an established Macclesfield business time and money — the report that takes half a day, the data rekeyed between packages, the process that lives in one person's head — carefully, without ripping out everything that still works.
Who we've worked with near Macclesfield
Our nearest client to Macclesfield is a women's fashion brand in Manchester, about 16 miles away. Most of our work on this side of the country has been ecommerce rather than science, and we'd rather say that plainly.
A Manchester fashion brand
Their Shopify store, plus a custom ERP built around it.
A denim brand in Elland
About 32 miles away in West Yorkshire. We integrated their old system with Shopify, so the old system and the shop work together.
Closer to what Macclesfield does
For the compliance-heavy work suppliers around a big pharmaceutical site deal with, our nearest experience is the program we developed, and keep up to date, for an electronic security business in Sussex, and a turnkey system for a critical power company in Hampshire.
Where we fit in Macclesfield's software scene
Macclesfield is dominated by AstraZeneca — the UK's largest pharmaceutical manufacturing site and one of the company's biggest global IT hubs — within the Cheshire science corridor. That is large-scale pharma and enterprise IT.
Dev Partners works at a different scale and in a different lane: bespoke internal business systems, integrations and legacy modernisation for the established SMEs, manufacturers and suppliers around that base.
What you get is a UK team that has done this since 2011, a fixed price rather than an open-ended estimate, and direct access to Rob and Jason, who are on every project.
Organisations named above are mentioned only to describe the local economy accurately; they are not affiliated with Dev Partners, and nothing here is a comment on them.
164 miles from Kent, and why that's rarely the issue
Our office is in Gravesend, about 164 miles from Macclesfield as the crow flies. Day to day we work remotely: video calls, a staging site you can check whenever you like, and Rob or Jason on the phone rather than an account manager.
If being there helps, we'll come to you. For a manufacturer or supplier that usually means a day on site at the start, walking the process from order to despatch with the people who do it, because the details that matter rarely make it into a written brief.
Once it's live, we keep looking after it. Several of our clients have been with us for over a decade.
Software for Macclesfield businesses
Manufacturing & production systems
Bespoke production, stock, quality and operations systems for the manufacturers and suppliers around Macclesfield, capturing what a generic ERP cannot.
Operational workflow tools
Custom job management, scheduling, quoting and sign-off workflows that codify how your business runs and remove the dependency on individuals.
Legacy system modernisation
Migrating ageing databases and legacy applications to modern, maintainable platforms without disrupting operations — including COBOL, Access and early-generation PHP systems.
System integrations
Connecting the packages you already run so data flows between them without manual re-entry: accounting, ERP, stock, CRM and e-commerce. If it has an API, we can connect it.
Custom CRM & client management
A CRM built around how you really manage accounts, pipeline or cases, not how a generic vendor assumes you do. An open-source CRM such as Krayin or EspoCRM as a starting point, or fully bespoke.
Reporting & data consolidation
Pulling data from multiple sources into dashboards and reports that are always current, instead of someone spending half a day extracting and formatting spreadsheets first.
Long-term clients across publishing, logistics, energy and professional services.
The relationships that matter most to us are the ones that have run for years. A selection of who we have built for and kept running:
- Telegraph Media Group — publishing and subscription management software, maintained for over a decade
- Hearst Communications — circulation, subscription and reader services platforms
- CDS Global — fulfilment and publishing software in continuous production since we built it
- BPC Energy — complete bespoke business operations platform, built from scratch
- PSS Project Skills Solutions — CRM, course booking and project management platform
- Jones Hire — warehouse picking, customer ordering and driver delivery systems
What our clients say
19 clients. A few of their words.
A well-rounded team, ensuring a full suite of expertise & resource is always available. CDS Global have seen the successful completion of major projects over the years where Dev Partners' ability to grasp the underlying business needs to provide a future-proof solution has been invaluable.
We have worked with Jason & his team to develop our Shopify store, and the experience was outstanding from start to finish. The design is clean, modern, and perfectly aligned with our brand identity, while the build is fast, responsive, and easy to manage on the backend. They clearly understood our vision and delivered a store we're genuinely proud of. Highly recommend to any brand looking for a top-quality Shopify partner.
After ongoing issues and delays with our previous developers, we brought in Rob & Jason at Dev Partners to take over all our websites and bespoke software. What a breath of fresh air, fully focused, excellent pre-launch designs and clear communication throughout. Highly recommended.
BPC Energy Ltd turned to Dev Partners for a complete turnkey solution, and they exceeded our expectations. The team handled everything from project management to development and support with real care and attention. They understood what we were aiming for, stayed on top of every detail, and always delivered on schedule with excellent quality.
Want your software, servers and tech plan handled as one monthly arrangement? See Your tech department.
Questions people don't always ask, but should
The questions we think every business should ask a software developer, including us. The honest answers are on our custom software page.
- We've been burned by a developer before. Why would this be any different?
- How do we know the price won't balloon once the project starts?
- Are we going to be completely dependent on you forever once this is built?
- Can a company your size handle a project as complex as ours?
- We don't have a technical person internally. Will we be able to manage this?
- How long will it actually take? Every developer we've spoken to has underestimated.
- What happens if something goes wrong after the software launches?
- We've had quotes ranging from £5k to £80k for the same project. How do we know yours is realistic?
- How do we know you'll still be around in three years to support this?
Questions from Macclesfield businesses
We are Kent-based, in Gravesend, and we work remotely with established businesses across the UK. A custom software project is data, code and configuration rather than on-site visits, so where you are based makes no practical difference; we have clients we have worked with for years and rarely need to meet in person. We travel when a project genuinely benefits from it.
That is exactly who we work with. Macclesfield is known for its big science employer, but around it sits a base of established SMEs, manufacturers and suppliers that rarely have an in-house development team. We build bespoke systems for those firms.
Almost always. We connect bespoke software to the accounts packages, stock systems and other tools you already run, so you extend what works rather than replace it. The goal is your systems sharing data rather than duplicating it, without a disruptive big-bang replacement.
Yes. Modernising ageing databases and legacy software, including systems built on COBOL, Access or early PHP, is something we do regularly. We migrate data carefully and keep operations running throughout, rather than a cutover that brings everything down at once.
Established operators rather than startups: manufacturers, professional and financial services, logistics, and growing firms that have outgrown their original tools. Anywhere a generic package no longer fits how the business runs.
Since 2011, from our office in Gravesend, with the same two directors. Several client relationships have run for over a decade. For a business building on software it intends to run for years, a developer who still answers the phone in ten years matters more than it sounds.
Custom software development resources
How we help established businesses, and the areas we cover.
Operational software lives or dies on the details — the edge cases, the handovers, the one report nobody ever documented. We build it properly the first time, in-house, so it keeps pace with the business instead of becoming the thing everyone works around.
Modernise your Macclesfield systems
Start with one straight conversation. No pitch, no obligation.
Tell us which system or process is causing the most friction. We will give you an honest view of what is worth fixing, what it would involve, and whether the cost makes sense. We reply within one working day.
We will cover:
- The specific process or system that is the problem
- Whether bespoke software is actually the right answer
- How it would connect to the systems you already run
- A realistic scope and cost, before any commitment
Kent-based, working with established businesses across the UK. We reply within one working day. Call 01474 639 089.
Book a free consultation
Tell us about your project and we will be in touch within one working day.
