Cambridge enquiries about ExpressionEngine support generally mean one of two things, a site coasting along unpatched, or one that's actively broken with the previous developer unreachable.
Sorting that out is Karl's job, and his alone. Expression 37 hasn't touched anything besides ExpressionEngine and Craft CMS since Karl founded it in 2007.
He looks through what's actually there before recommending anything. That leads to a fix, a version upgrade, or an ongoing retainer, depending on what's needed.
Where this tends to matter:
Research and biotech companies whose site needs to present technical or scientific content clearly, without the CMS itself becoming a barrier to updating it. Fast-growing tech firms whose site has outgrown a structure built for a much smaller team. Sites left behind when a co-founder or early hire who understood the tech has since moved on. And installs several major EE versions old, where an upgrade means checking every add-on's compatibility properly first. Fast-growing firms often have HubSpot or Salesforce wired into the CMS for lead capture, and that connection needs the same attention as the core site.
How this tends to start:
Karl won't quote anything until he's gone through the templates and add-ons directly, since these handovers rarely come with documentation that's actually useful. Most people get in touch after something concrete: a page that's become genuinely difficult for non-technical staff to update, a security notice nobody's had time to deal with, or a decision that the site needs proper ownership now the company's grown. From there it's a defined project or an ongoing arrangement, priced before work begins.
Common questions Cambridge clients ask:
Do you need to be based in Cambridge for this to work?
No. The work is entirely remote, and that suits most Cambridge companies fine given how much of the sector already operates that way. A call or a visit is available whenever it's genuinely useful.
Our content is fairly technical or scientific, does that complicate things?
It changes what needs the most care. Technical content needs a structure that keeps it organised and easy to update without breaking formatting, rather than being treated the same as a standard marketing page.
The person who understood our site has left, can you pick it up?
Yes, this happens often here specifically, given how much churn there is in early-stage teams. Establishing what's genuinely custom versus a modified add-on takes a proper read of the code rather than a guess.
Is it a problem if our ExpressionEngine version is old?
Not necessarily on its own. The core software tends to hold up fine. The actual exposure sits in whatever add-ons have gone unmaintained alongside it.
What's included with ongoing support?
Priority when something breaks, proactive checks instead of waiting to hear about a problem, and a developer who already knows the site rather than starting from zero.
What should we budget for this?
It depends on what's actually needed. A defined project is a fixed number. Ongoing support runs monthly. Either way, agreed before anything's touched.
Ready to get started?
If your website is business-critical and needs a specialist who will take proper long-term ownership of it, get in touch. Karl will respond personally and give you an honest view of how we can help.
