Guides
How to choose a web development agency in the UK: 12 questions to ask
Twelve questions that separate a good UK web agency from an expensive mistake, what a straight answer should sound like, and the red flags…
· 8 min read
Most business owners make technology decisions with nobody neutral to ask. The web agency recommends a new website. The software vendor recommends their software. The nephew who “does IT” recommends whatever he used last time. IT consulting is paying for an independent view before you commit money: what you actually need, what it should cost, and what to steer clear of.
We’re a development agency, so our advice comes from knowing what things really take to build, run and maintain. We also say no to work when the honest answer is “buy an off-the-shelf tool” or “you don’t need this yet”. We advise businesses across the UK, mostly over video calls, from our office in London.
Questions we help answer
- Should we build custom software or pay for a subscription product?
- Our website is six years old. Do we need a rebuild, or would a refresh and some fixes do?
- We have three quotes for the same project: £3,000, £9,000 and £24,000. Why, and which is right?
- Can our systems talk to each other, or do we need to replace one of them?
- Our software project is late, over budget and the developer has gone quiet. Can it be rescued?
- What should we prioritise over the next 12 months with £15,000 to spend?
- Is an AI tool, a no-code builder or a mobile app the right move for us, or a distraction?
Why quotes vary so much
This is the question we’re asked most, so here’s the short answer. Wildly different quotes are rarely about hourly rates alone. They usually reflect different assumptions about scope: one supplier has priced a template with your logo on it, another has priced custom design, content migration, testing and training. A quote that doesn’t list what’s excluded is the one to worry about.
When we review quotes we line them up against the same checklist: discovery, design rounds, content, integrations, testing, accessibility, hosting, training, warranty period, who owns the code, and ongoing costs. Usually the picture is clear within an hour or two.
What you get
- Technology review: the tools, systems and suppliers you use today, what they cost each year, and where they overlap or leave gaps.
- Build vs buy analysis with realistic three- to five-year costs for each option, including licences, hosting and maintenance.
- Quote and proposal reviews so you can compare suppliers like for like and know what to ask before signing.
- A prioritised roadmap: now, next and later, with budget ranges you can plan around.
- Project rescue: an assessment of a stalled project’s code, documentation, hosting access and plan, with options to recover it.
- Specifications you can take to any developer, including us.
- Technical due diligence on a website, app or software business you plan to buy or invest in.
How we work
A first conversation
We talk through your business, the decision in front of you and your budget. Often the right question becomes clear in the first hour, and sometimes that hour is all you need.
Look under the bonnet
Where needed, we review systems, code, hosting, contracts or quotes. We also ask your staff what slows them down, because they usually know exactly where the time goes.
A written recommendation
You get a short report in plain English: options, costs, risks and what we’d do in your position. Five to ten pages, not sixty.
Your choice what happens next
Take the recommendation to any supplier. If you want us to deliver it, we quote separately, and we’ll tell you if another supplier would suit you better. Being useful matters more to us than winning every job.
A worked example
Here is a hypothetical but very common set-up: a 25-person services firm in Bristol paying for a CRM, a separate quoting tool, a project tracker and a shared drive, with staff copying data between all four. The options usually look like this:
| Option | Upfront | Running cost | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consolidate onto one SaaS suite | Low (set-up and migration) | Per-user licences, rising with headcount | Fits 80 % of needs; staff adapt to the tool |
| Connect existing tools via APIs | Moderate (integration work) | Existing licences plus small hosting cost | Keeps familiar tools; more moving parts |
| Custom system | Highest | Hosting and maintenance hours | Fits exactly; you own it and must maintain it |
There’s no universally right answer. The figures that decide it are licence costs at your headcount over five years, the hours lost to retyping, and how unusual your process really is. That’s what a consulting engagement puts numbers against.
Real experience behind the advice
Our advice comes from building and running real projects: a custom CMS and donation platform for UNICEF, campaign landing pages for ActionAid, ERP integration for LAV, an on-demand car-wash app for Washy, and web-based software for KDMasterKey. We know where projects go over budget because we’ve had to plan around the same risks. Our guide to choosing a web development agency lists the questions we’d ask any supplier, including ourselves.
What IT consulting costs
Consulting is booked through hire us at our custom development rate of £60 an hour excluding VAT. Hours never expire, so you can use them over several months as decisions come up.
- Quote review or a focused build vs buy question: usually 3 to 6 hours, so £180 to £360 plus VAT.
- Full technology review with a 12-month roadmap for a small business: 10 to 20 hours. 10 hours is £570 plus VAT after the 5 % discount; 20 hours is £1,020 plus VAT after 15 %.
- Project rescue assessment: depends on the size of the codebase; we’ll give you a fixed number of hours up front.
For context, a single wrong platform choice on a £10,000 project easily costs more than that to unwind.
What we don’t do
We don’t provide office IT support, Microsoft 365 administration, networking or hardware. For that, a managed IT provider is the right fit, and we’re happy to work alongside yours.
Ask before you commit
About to sign a quote, choose a platform or start a software project? Talk to us first. Contact us or call 020 3918 3814, and see our custom software development page if building turns out to be the answer.
