Custom Software Development · Hastings · East Sussex
Custom Software Development in Hastings
Hastings punches well above its size in advanced manufacturing — aerospace, defence, precision optics and a world-renowned ultra-high vacuum and photonics cluster — alongside a thriving creative coast. Precision businesses like these often run on systems that have not kept pace with how technical the work has become.
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Hastings' quiet software problem
Hastings has one of the most distinctive industrial bases in the South East. Manufacturing makes up a significant share of local output, with genuine strength in aerospace, defence, precision optics and a globally recognised ultra-high vacuum and photonics cluster, supported by university research links. Around that sits a fast-growing creative sector along England's Creative Coast.
Highly technical businesses tend to accumulate highly specific software needs: traceability and quality data a generic ERP cannot capture, bespoke calculations, certification and compliance records, machine and supply-chain integration. Often that ends up spread across spreadsheets, an ageing package and one engineer's deep knowledge.
We fix the specific points where an ageing system is costing a precision business time, accuracy or compliance — the report that takes half a day, the data rekeyed between systems, the quality record that lives in a workbook — carefully, without ripping out everything that still works.
What a system past its best looks like
These patterns turn up in established Hastings businesses again and again. If more than one is familiar, it is worth a conversation.
A report that takes half a day to produce
The data exists. Someone extracts it, cleans it, combines it from three sources and formats it in Excel. Every week, the same half-day. A well-designed system produces it in seconds.
Quality and traceability in spreadsheets
Certification, batch and traceability records that auditors and customers rely on live in a workbook one person maintains. Precision work deserves better than a spreadsheet holding the evidence together.
Data rekeyed between two packages
A job goes into one system. Someone types it into the accounts package. Someone checks a third. Three entries for one transaction, three chances for the numbers to diverge.
The process that lives in one person's head
One experienced engineer knows how it really works. If they are off or leave, things slow noticeably. Nobody wrote it down because nobody had to — until now.
Software the vendor no longer develops
The package you rely on still runs, but updates have stopped and integrations have broken. Your accountant is hinting you should move to something supported.
Off-the-shelf that covers 80% and misses the 20% that matters
The gap is not a feature request. It is the specific way your business runs that no generic platform was built for, and you have been working around it ever since.
Where we fit in Hastings' software scene
Hastings has a growing technology and creative community, including design and digital studios such as Sprung Studios and bespoke software providers like CM System Designs, set against an advanced-manufacturing base that employs specialist engineering talent. The town also draws on East Sussex College, the University of Brighton and the University of Sussex for research and skills.
Dev Partners works in a specific lane within that scene: bespoke internal business systems, production and traceability software, system integrations and legacy modernisation for established operators and manufacturers, rather than consumer apps or marketing technology. It is a deliberately narrow focus that suits Hastings' technical business base. We are Kent-based and open about it — most work runs remotely, and we travel into Sussex when a project benefits from time on site.
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.
Firms named above are independent businesses mentioned only to describe Hastings' software landscape accurately; they are not affiliated with Dev Partners, and nothing here is a comment on the quality of their work.
How we work with established Hastings firms
We start with what hurts most
No grand rebuild. We find the one or two processes causing the most friction and fix those first, so you see a return before any larger work begins. Established businesses rarely need a complete overhaul — they need targeted fixes applied carefully.
We work with what you already have
Your accounts package, machine software and the rest can usually stay. We connect bespoke software to them rather than replacing them wholesale, so your systems share data instead of duplicating it.
We do not disappear after launch
For a business planning to be around for decades, the developer relationship matters as much as the code. Most of our clients have been with us for years, several over a decade. The same people are still here.
Software for Hastings businesses
Production & traceability systems
For precision manufacturers and the photonics and vacuum supply chain: bespoke production tracking, quality, certification and traceability systems that capture what a generic ERP cannot.
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 & machine integrations
Connecting the packages and equipment you already run so data flows without manual re-entry: accounting, ERP, stock, CRM and shop-floor systems. If it has an API, we can connect it.
Operational workflow tools
Custom job management, scheduling, quoting, approval and sign-off workflows that codify how your business operates and remove the dependency on individuals carrying the process.
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 Hastings businesses
We are Kent-based, in Gravesend, around 65 miles from Hastings. Most development runs remotely as standard, and we travel into Sussex when a project benefits from time with your team in person. Where you are based makes no practical difference to the quality of the work.
Yes. Hastings has a strong advanced-manufacturing base, including a world-renowned ultra-high vacuum and photonics cluster. Bespoke production, quality, traceability and operations systems for precision manufacturers and engineers are core work for us, connecting to the equipment and packages you already run.
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: precision manufacturers and engineering firms, the supply chains around the photonics and vacuum cluster, creative and production businesses, professional services and logistics. 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, that matters more than it sounds.
Custom software development resources
How we help established businesses, and the areas we cover.
Custom software
Technologies & more
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 Hastings 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, serving Sussex. 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.
