Don’t touch it in case it breaks!
60–80% of the average IT budget goes on maintaining legacy software, not on building.
Teams avoid fragile code, small features take weeks, and bugs linger. Competitors improve continuously while progress stalls for your web application. Every month you wait, the codebase gets worse, the people who understand it move on, and the cost of fixing it goes up.
With 20 years’ experience behind us, we specialise in rescuing and modernising aging web applications. Without full rewrites, we assess what you have, stabilise critical issues, and modernise incrementally. From there, we either provide ongoing support or hand back over to you.
60–80%
of the average IT budget goes on maintaining legacy software.
Not on building. Not on growing. Just on keeping the lights on.
Trusted by great UK businesses:
Hello, I’m Mike Carter
I've spent 20 years working with JavaScript and Ruby, and have rescued many legacy systems nobody wanted to touch.
Taking responsibility for software someone else built, figuring out why it's causing pain, and getting it moving again is what I do. I've both built new web applications, and inherited ones that went sideways, and that's given me a good sense for how to modernise old systems effectively.
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.
What modernisation 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RIFT's tax refund platform was built on outdated Rails with a fragile codebase and duplicated customer data.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. 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 left abruptly, leaving dozens of undocumented Node.js and React services to maintain.
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
Laced's sneaker trading platform needed European expansion, but the team's effort was heading in the wrong direction.
We halted two costly rewrites, redirected the engineering team, and guided delivery of multi-currency pricing, cross-border shipping, and full internationalisation - all on a live platform, on deadline.
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 rely on their web applications.
Your web application used to drive the business forward. Now it's the thing nobody wants to touch.
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