Don’t touch it or it’ll break!
In neglected web applications, every change feels like a gamble.
Teams tiptoe around fragile code while features that should take days stretch into weeks and bug fixes spawn new bugs. Your competitors ship improvements quarterly, but you’re stuck maintaining a system that resists every change.
Every month you wait, the codebase hardens, the people who understand it move on, and the cost of sorting it out goes up. It doesn’t get better on its own.
We specialise in rescuing and modernising aging web applications, getting them stable without risky full rebuilds. With 20 years' experience untangling other people’s code, we’ve learned that these systems just need someone willing to understand them.
We assess what you have, stabilise critical issues, and modernise incrementally. From there, we either hand the keys back to your team or provide ongoing support. We’ve seen it all before.
60–80%
of the average IT budget goes on maintaining legacy systems.
Not on building. Not on growing. Just on keeping the lights on.
Hello, I’m Mike Carter
I've spent 20 years working with JavaScript and Ruby on Rails codebases, but the work I keep coming back to is the rescue stuff. Taking over a system someone else built, figuring out why it's falling apart, and getting it moving again. I've been on both sides, building products from scratch and inheriting the ones that went sideways, and that's given me a good feel for what's worth saving and where to start.
When you work with BitBrawn, you work directly with me. I lead every assessment, write the roadmap, and stay across the critical technical work. When a project needs more hands, I bring in senior specialists I've worked with for years. You'll always know who's on your code.
Trusted by great UK businesses:
What this looks like in practice.
Three legacy rescue projects, three very different starting points, three measurable outcomes.
192% more claim submissions
RIFT's tax refund platform was built on outdated Rails with a fragile codebase and duplicated customer data. We modernised the legacy system, transformed the self-service experience, and unified their data into a single API, driving claim submissions up 192%, unique sign-ins up 84%, and data accuracy above 99%.
Their calm, measured and pragmatic approach immediately instils confidence. They understand the business issues we're trying to solve.
From crisis to yearly revenue growth
Allocate's lead developer vanished with no documentation, leaving dozens of Node.js and React services where fixing one bug broke another. We stabilised the platform, got it deploying safely multiple times a week, and turned declining revenue into year-on-year growth. That rescue turned into an ongoing partnership.
Without assistance they methodically unravelled older web applications in order to understand their structure. Their expertise has been invaluable.
£100M marketplace modernised
We helped build Laced's sneaker marketplace in 2018, but after £100M+ in sales the single-market system couldn't support European expansion. We modernised the legacy platform without downtime, and Laced now ships globally with full-site translation and localisation for multiple countries.
BitBrawn were pivotal in developing our bespoke web application. After its launch, they provided crucial support as our business scaled.
We deliver the way others promise to
Clear milestones. Real accountability.
Rescue projects need clarity and structure. Our senior-only team brings both to every engagement.
You work directly with me
Many agencies lead with senior people to win the deal, then quietly pass the work to juniors. I lead every phase of your project myself, from the initial assessment through to delivery.
Fixed price, no surprises
Hourly billing and scope creep make it hard to plan your budget with any confidence. Every phase of work is scoped and priced before it begins, so there are no overruns.
Your code, your control
Some developers keep you dependent on them by making the codebase hard for anyone else to maintain. Everything I build is yours, fully documented, and ready for any developer to pick up.
Incremental, not big-bang
Full rebuilds are expensive, risky, and often disruptive to your day-to-day operations. I modernise your application in careful steps, so it keeps running and improving throughout the process.
Still here after launch
The worst time to lose your developer is right after launch, when issues surface and need fast attention. I stay on for ongoing support for as long as you need, whether that’s weeks or years.
Regular updates, no chasing
Chasing developers for updates is exhausting, and silence often means problems are being hidden. I send regular progress updates with demos so you always know where things stand.
Is this right for you?
Built for businesses that depend on their web application.
If you're running a business where the web application your team and customers rely on has become the thing everyone's afraid to touch, you're in the right place.
Most of our clients are UK businesses with 20 to 500 people. They have a web application that's more than five years old, built in JavaScript or Ruby on Rails, and it's become slow, fragile, or expensive to change. The person who built it has often moved on, and nobody on the current team wants to touch it. If that sounds familiar, we can help.
What if our codebase is really bad?
We've inherited codebases with no tests, no documentation, no version control, and deployment processes held together by sticky notes. The state of your code doesn't change whether we can help - it just changes where we start. The assessment phase exists to understand exactly what's there before anyone commits to anything.
Do we need documentation or knowledge of how the system works?
No. Many of our clients come to us precisely because the original developer has left and nobody remaining understands the system. Figuring out what's there and how it works is literally the first thing we do. You don't need to prepare anything beyond access to the codebase.
What if we're not sure modernisation is what we need?
That's fine, and it's more common than you'd think. The first conversation is free and exploratory. We'll ask about what's going wrong, look at the situation honestly, and tell you whether modernisation is the right path or whether you need something different. There's no commitment and no pressure.
Can you work alongside our existing development team?
Yes, and we often do. We're not there to replace your team or take over. We come in, handle the parts that need specialist experience, and make sure your developers are set up to maintain things going forward. We've worked embedded in client teams of all sizes.
Contact
Got a web application that needs modernising? Let's talk.
Tell us what's going on with your application. We'll reply within one business day with an honest assessment of whether we can help.
Tell us about your application
Not sure what to say? Just tell us what's going wrong — we'll take it from there.
Prefer to talk or email?
We're happy to hop on a free 15 minute call to discuss rescuing your aging application. Alternatively, you can email us.
Book a call
hello@bitbrawn.com