Custom Software Development · York · North Yorkshire
Custom Software Development in York
York has distinctive strengths in rail, bioscience and a fast-growing digital and creative sector, with major financial-services names and a busy science park. Behind them sit many established operators on systems that no longer fit.
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York's quiet software problem
York accounts for a tenth of national rail-industry employment and has real strength in bioscience, financial services and a fast-growing digital and creative sector, supported by York Science Park and its 130-plus science and technology firms.
Established operators accumulate software debt as they grow: data rekeyed between packages, processes that depend on one person, off-the-shelf tools that no longer fit how the business runs.
We fix the specific points where an ageing system is costing an established York 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 York
York isn't home turf for a Kent company, but it isn't new to us either. We've written custom software for a Church of England diocese based in the city, and for a Catholic diocese 22 miles away in Leeds.
A Church of England diocese in York
Custom software for a diocese whose offices are in York, written for them rather than bought off the shelf.
A Catholic diocese in Leeds
Custom software for another Yorkshire diocese, 22 miles down the road. Two quite different organisations, each with a system written for the way it works.
And further south
Most of our clients are in Kent and London: a port and warehousing business in Northfleet whose warehouse system we redesigned, B2B publishers in Rochester, and national newspaper and magazine publishers.
Where we fit in York's software scene
York has a strong rail-technology and science base — major rail employers and engineering, York Science Park's 130-plus firms, and a growing digital and creative cluster — much of it sector-specific or research-led.
Dev Partners works in a different lane: bespoke internal business systems, integrations and legacy modernisation for established operating businesses.
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.
185 miles away. Here's how that works.
Our office is in Gravesend, Kent, about 185 miles from York as the crow flies, so most of the work happens remotely: regular video calls, a staging site where you can see the system taking shape, and Rob or Jason on the phone when you ring.
If the project needs us in the room, we'll come to York. The days worth the train fare are the first one, when we sit with the people who'll use the system and watch how they actually work, and go-live, when it helps to have someone who built it standing next to you.
After that, we look after it. Most of our clients have been with us for years, several for over a decade, and it's the same people answering the phone.
Software for York businesses
Operational workflow tools
Custom job management, scheduling, quoting, approval and sign-off workflows that codify how your business runs and remove the dependency on individuals.
Professional & services systems
Case, client, scheduling and compliance systems for professional and services firms, built around how your organisation actually works.
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 York 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.
Yes. The majority of our work runs remotely, and distance makes no difference to a custom software project. York businesses work with us exactly as our local clients do, with regular calls and screen-shares and the same UK team throughout.
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.
Custom software
Technologies & more
Software development across North Yorkshire
See all 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 York 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.
