Gloucester businesses tend to reach out about ExpressionEngine when the site's in one of two states: quietly unpatched, or actively causing trouble while the agency that built it has stopped replying.
Karl's who sorts that, every time. Expression 37's only ever worked in ExpressionEngine and Craft CMS, since 2007. It's him on every project, not an account manager.
He goes through what's genuinely there before recommending anything. That turns into a fix, an upgrade, or an ongoing retainer, depending on what's needed.
Where this tends to matter:
Tourism and heritage sites where content accuracy and uptime carry real reputational weight, not just a commercial one. Marine and engineering businesses around the docks whose site holds technical or specification content that needs to be right, not just marketing copy. Retailers taking payments through Stripe who need that connection kept in as good order as the CMS itself. And installs old enough that every add-on needs an honest compatibility check before an upgrade goes anywhere near them.
How a typical engagement starts:
Most Gloucester clients get in touch after something specific: a content update that turned out to be far more complicated than it should have been, a security notice on an old add-on, or the realisation that nobody could explain how part of the site actually worked. From there it's usually a fixed-scope piece of work first, moving into an ongoing retainer once that's resolved.
Common questions Gloucester clients ask:
Is it a problem that you're not based in Gloucester?
Not in practice. All of the work happens remotely, and Gloucester is easily reachable for the rare occasion an in-person meeting is genuinely worthwhile.
Can you take over a site from an agency that's stopped supporting ExpressionEngine?
Yes, this is one of the more common starting points. Establishing what's genuinely custom-built versus a modified add-on takes an honest read of the code first.
Is an old ExpressionEngine version a real problem?
Usually less than people expect. The core software itself rarely causes issues. It's the unmaintained add-ons sitting alongside it that tend to cause the actual trouble.
Do you handle the Stripe side too, or just the CMS?
Both. Payment connections are usually wired directly into the templates, so treating them as separate from the CMS itself tends to be where problems get missed.
How is pricing structured?
One-off work like audits and upgrades is quoted as a fixed cost. Ongoing support runs as a monthly retainer, agreed upfront either way, no open-ended hourly billing.
What does the first step actually look like?
A short call about the site, its current version, and what's currently going wrong or worrying you. That's enough for an honest view on scope before anything is agreed.
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.
