Portsmouth enquiries about ExpressionEngine support tend to come down to one of two things: a site that's fine but neglected for years, or one that's actively broken with the agency behind it long gone.
Karl's the one who sorts it, on his own. Expression 37's specialised in ExpressionEngine and Craft CMS since 2007. No account manager, no wider team involved.
Nothing gets recommended before he's reviewed the actual build. That's usually a fix, an upgrade, or an ongoing retainer.
Where this tends to come up:
Defence and marine supply firms whose site needs proper access control, not just a login form bolted on. Ferry and travel operators whose booking flow can't quietly fail during a busy crossing period. Businesses whose previous agency has gone quiet, leaving an ExpressionEngine install that's technically live and practically unsupported. And installs old enough that every add-on needs checking individually before an upgrade is safe to attempt. Ferry operators processing payments through Stripe need that connection held to the same standard as the booking flow itself, not treated as someone else's problem when it breaks.
How this usually starts:
Before quoting anything, Karl goes through the actual templates, add-ons, and access setup, because Portsmouth handovers often come with more assumptions than documentation, particularly where anything sensitive is involved. Most clients get in touch after a specific trigger: a booking system under strain, a security question that nobody could confidently answer, or a decision that an unsupported site is no longer an acceptable risk. From there it's a scoped project or an ongoing retainer, agreed before work starts.
Common questions Portsmouth clients ask often:
Does it matter that you're not based in Portsmouth?
Not for the work. Code review, deployment, testing, all handled remotely and it works well. Portsmouth is close enough that a face-to-face conversation is never a real barrier if one's genuinely useful.
Our site touches security-sensitive or defence-related information, does that change anything?
It changes what gets prioritised. Access control, audit trails, and who can see what need proper attention, not the default assumption that everything on a CMS is public-facing by nature.
Can you take over a site built by a developer no longer around?
Yes, this is a common starting point. Working out what's genuinely custom versus a modified add-on takes an actual read of the code rather than a guess from the outside.
How old can an ExpressionEngine install get before it's a real problem?
Age isn't really the metric worth worrying about. An old core install with well-maintained add-ons is safer than a recent one with abandoned ones. It's the add-on layer that needs checking specifically.
What does ongoing support include?
Priority handling of anything urgent, scheduled checks rather than relying on you to spot problems first, and consistency, one developer who knows the install properly rather than whoever's free.
What's this likely to cost?
A one-off audit or fix is a fixed quote. Ongoing work runs monthly. Either way, the number is agreed before anything starts.
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.
