This tends to matter for Coventry businesses once an ExpressionEngine site's fallen out of anyone's routine, still running, just unloved, or with the previous developer no longer picking up.
Karl's who picks it up from there. Expression 37 has never branched out beyond ExpressionEngine and Craft CMS, not since Karl started it in 2007, and every job's his.
He works through what's actually there before recommending anything. Depending on what's found, that's a fix, an upgrade, or an ongoing retainer.
Who this tends to matter for:
Manufacturers and suppliers whose site connects into a dealer portal or a stock feed, where a broken integration means someone downstream can't see current pricing or availability. Businesses whose agency has quietly stopped doing ExpressionEngine work and gone all-in on WordPress or Shopify instead, leaving the old site unsupported in practice even if it's technically still "theirs." Anyone running Stripe, Salesforce, or HubSpot integrations that were wired in years ago by someone no longer contactable. And firms on an EE version old enough that upgrading now means auditing every add-on for compatibility rather than a routine update.
What the first few weeks usually involve:
Before quoting anything, Karl goes through the templates, the add-ons in use, and whatever custom logic exists, because Coventry sites in this position rarely come with useful documentation. Most engagements start from a specific trigger: an integration that's stopped syncing correctly, a security notice about an outdated add-on, or simply a decision that the site can't keep running unsupported. From there it's either a scoped project or a retainer, agreed upfront either way.
Common questions Coventry clients tend to ask:
You're not based in Coventry, does that cause problems?
No. Every part of this, reviewing code, deploying changes, testing, happens remotely, and it works better than most people expect. If an in-person conversation is genuinely useful, Coventry is close enough that it's not a barrier.
Our site talks to a dealer or supplier system, is that unusual?
Not for Coventry. It's one of the more common setups we see given the manufacturing and automotive supply chain around here, and it's exactly the kind of integration that needs mapping properly before touching anything else on the site.
Can you pick up a site that another developer built and walked away from?
Yes, regularly. The first job is always working out what's genuinely custom versus a stock add-on someone customised badly, and that takes a proper look at the code, not a guess based on the front end.
How far behind can an ExpressionEngine install get before it's a real problem?
There's no fixed cut-off point. EE2 and EE3 installs still run perfectly well day to day. What actually needs checking is the add-on layer sitting on top, code nobody's tested against a current PHP version in years.
What's included if we sign up for ongoing support?
Priority response when something breaks, proactive attention rather than waiting for a fault, and a developer who already knows the site rather than starting from zero each time. Project work, by contrast, is quoted and delivered as a fixed piece of work.
What does it cost to get started?
Depends entirely on what's needed. An initial audit or a specific fix is quoted as a fixed price. Ongoing work runs monthly. Either way you'll know the number before agreeing to anything.
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.
