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Ongoing development

A development partner after launch, not just a helpdesk.

Responsive support for existing websites, ecommerce platforms and bespoke applications.

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support / what a retainer coversincluded
Retained hoursAn agreed block each month, rolled over for one month
Monthly
Proactive updatesPlatform, plugin and security patches, staged first
Included
Monitoring and backupsUptime checks, daily off-site backups
Included
Monthly reportUptime, updates applied and work carried out
Included
Why it matters

Support that understands the platform.

Retained support is a working relationship rather than a ticket queue. What follows is how the hours actually tend to get used.

Direct access

Speak to people who understand the code and can explain the options clearly.

Proactive maintenance

Address software, security and performance risks before they become bigger problems.

Continuous improvement

Use a prioritised backlog to keep the platform useful as the business changes.

Bug investigation

Diagnose and resolve issues with proper root-cause analysis, not just quick fixes.

Feature development

Plan and build new capabilities within your retained hours as priorities evolve.

Technical planning

Advise on future direction, technology choices and technical debt management.

When you need this

When launch turns out not to be the end of it.

Most sites do not fail dramatically. They drift: a plugin goes unsupported, a form stops delivering, a certificate lapses, and the list of small changes nobody got round to keeps growing.

A retainer exists to stop that accumulating, and to make sure there is somebody who already knows the build when something does need attention urgently.

Signs it is time

  • The developer has moved on — Nobody has looked at the site properly since it launched, and there is no documentation.
  • Small changes keep waiting — Each one is too minor to raise a quote for and too irritating to leave alone.
  • Updates are overdue — Platform, plugin and dependency versions have drifted far enough that updating is now its own project.
  • Something needs watching — Uptime, error rates, or an integration everyone already knows is fragile.
At a glance

How retained support runs.

support / architecture diagram
How retained support runs month to monthMonitoruptime & errorsTriageurgent vs scheduledFix & teston staging firstReporthours & changescontinuous — not a ticket queue
Retained support runs as a loop rather than a queue — monitored continuously, fixed and tested on staging, then reported, so the next month starts from a known state. Scroll the diagram sideways to see all of it.
Typical deliverables

What the engagement can include.

  • Retained development time
  • Updates and security maintenance
  • Bug investigation and fixes
  • Performance monitoring
  • Feature improvements
  • Technical advice and planning
support-queue / currentoverview
Form validation fixContact form · edge case · priority: normal
In progress
CMS core updateCore + plugins · staging tested
Complete
New testimonials sectionFeature request · est. 3 hrs
Queued
Questions

Planning the engagement.

What is included in maintenance and support?
A monthly block of development time plus the routine work that keeps a site healthy: platform and plugin updates, security patching, backup verification, uptime monitoring and a report of what was done. The remaining hours are yours to direct at fixes or improvements.
What counts as urgent, and how fast do you respond?
Anything that takes the site offline or makes it unusable. Our published SLA target for those is a response within two business hours, Mon–Fri, and retained clients can raise them by phone rather than waiting in a queue.
Do unused hours roll over?
Up to one month of unused hours roll into the following month, so a quiet period is not simply lost. They are not intended to accumulate indefinitely — if you are consistently not using the time, the plan is probably the wrong size and we will say so.
Can you support a site you did not build?
Yes, and much of our support work is exactly that. We start with a technical review to understand what we are taking on, flag anything that needs attention before it becomes urgent, and document the parts that were not documented.
Is there a minimum commitment?
Retained plans start from a small monthly block with 30 days notice to change or cancel. There is no long contract, because a retainer that only survives because it is hard to leave is not one we want.
Ready to build?

Need reliable ongoing development support?

Tell us what the site is, who looks after it now, and what keeps getting left undone. We will tell you honestly how many hours a month that is.

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