Custom Web Apps Ltd
Internal systems that outlive the problem they were built for
Darryl
Some of the systems I’ve built are still running twenty years later, still doing the job they were bought to do. That’s the standard I work to.
I design and build simple, secure web-based systems for small and medium-sized businesses — the kind of internal tools that replace a fragile spreadsheet, a shared inbox, or an off-the-shelf package that never quite fitted. I’ve been building this kind of software for over two decades, and I do it solo, so you deal with the person writing the code.
Book a discovery sessionWhat this usually looks like
- Staff log in and manage information in one place, instead of emailing versions of a workbook around
- Customer, order, project, stock or asset tracking built around how you actually work
- Dashboards and reports that answer the questions you keep asking manually
- Integrations between systems that don’t talk to each other
- Anything where standard software gets you 80% of the way and then stops
Not flashy consumer apps. Not enterprise platforms with a six-figure implementation. Practical systems, delivered end to end, hosted and looked after if you want that.
Recent work
Most of what I build sits behind a client login, so I can’t link to it publicly. I can walk you through any of it on a screen share.
Warehouse management for third-party logistics
A complete multi-tenant warehouse management system for small 3PL operators. Client portal, QR and barcode scanning at the point of pick and pack, automated billing that works out what each client owes from the movements recorded that month, PDF invoicing, subscription tiers and card payments.
The interesting problem wasn’t the warehouse floor. It was the billing: 3PL operators charge on a tangle of storage, handling and per-item rules, and most of them reconcile it by hand at month end. The system does it from the movement data.
Inventory management for electronic components
A long-running inventory system for a business dealing in electronic components. Stock held across locations, parts identified by manufacturer code as well as internal reference, goods in and goods out, and the reporting the team needs to know what they’re actually holding.
Electronic components are an awkward thing to track: the same part arrives under several numbering schemes, quantities run from single units to full reels, and a small mismatch is an expensive one. The system is built around that.
It first went live in 2006 and has been in daily use ever since. In 2025 I rebuilt it, using AI tooling to move two decades of working logic onto a modern footing without losing the behaviour the team relies on — which is the honest version of what AI is good for on a system like this.
Automated per-client microsites
A lead system for a US property client. When a lead converts, the platform generates them their own branded site on their own subdomain, at the click of a button, with no server work involved. It’s built to handle hundreds of new sites a year without anyone touching DNS, certificates or web server configuration.
Most agencies would have priced this as a big infrastructure project. It’s one application, doing tenant routing properly.
Group ski holiday matching
The question behind this one: can software recommend a ski holiday that genuinely works for a whole group, rather than returning a list of properties?
The hard part is that the useful facts aren’t in any listing. Whether the walk from the chalet to the lift is manageable with a seven-year-old. Whether the last bus back is late enough for the older teenagers. Whether “sleeps 10” means ten beds or eight beds and a sofa. So the system models the relationships between things — chalet to walk to lift to piste to restaurant — and mines years of reviews for the details people actually complain about.
It’s the clearest example of how I approach a problem: work out what question the customer is really asking, then build the data model that can answer it. That’s the same instinct I bring to a stock system or a job tracker.
Who I work best with
I specialise in working with people who aren’t technical and have no wish to become technical.
Business owners and operations managers usually arrive saying some version of the same thing:
“I know what the problem is. I just don’t want to become a tech person to fix it.”
My job is to translate that into a reliable system, and to explain every decision in plain English along the way.
For IT support companies and accountants
A good share of my work comes through people who look after businesses but don’t build software. If your clients keep asking for a custom system and you’ve no one to hand it to, I’ll take the build, work to your timeline, and stay in the background or in front of the client — whichever suits you. I don’t compete for your support contract.
What it costs
Every job is different, but so you have a sense of the shape of it:
Discovery session
£99, fixed
Ninety minutes on your problem, followed by a written summary of what I’d build, roughly what it would cost, and what I’d do first. Yours to keep, whether or not you use me. If you go ahead, it comes off the first invoice.
A first working version
typically £2,500 – £5,000
Small enough to be in use within weeks, not a year-long programme.
Hosting and support
from £75 a month
Optional. Plenty of clients take it because it means one less thing to think about.
I charge for discovery because it’s the part that does the most good. If the honest answer is that you shouldn’t build anything yet, you’ll get that in writing, and it’s usually worth more than the fee.
A note on AI
Plenty of businesses are curious or confused about ChatGPT and the rest. I use these tools daily and build with them, so I can tell you straight whether they’d help you.
Sometimes the answer is yes and it changes what a project costs. Often the answer is that a well-built form and a database will serve you better for ten years. I’ll say so.
How I work
- Fixed-price discovery first, so you know what you’re buying before you commit to a build
- Plain English throughout — no jargon, no surprises in the invoice
- End to end — from the first conversation to a working system your staff are using
- Optional hosting, so there’s nobody else to chase when something needs changing
I’m based near London and work with clients across the UK, Europe and the United States. My evenings line up with the American working day, which US clients tend to like.
Let’s have a sensible conversation
If you think you need an internal system — or you’re not sure and want an honest opinion — get in touch.
darryl@customwebapps.co.uk