Most Rochdale enquiries about ExpressionEngine support involve a site in one of two states: coasting along unpatched, or genuinely broken with the previous developer no longer responding.
Karl deals with it directly, always. Expression 37's stuck to ExpressionEngine and Craft CMS only, since founding in 2007. It's him on every job, not a wider team.
He reviews the actual build before recommending anything. That's typically a fix, a version upgrade, or an ongoing retainer.
Where we typically come in:
- Wholesalers and manufacturers with a trade portal built on ExpressionEngine, where account access and pricing tiers need to keep working without fuss.
- Engineering and industrial firms whose site was built for a specific job years ago and hasn't been revisited since.
- Retailers rebuilding their presence as part of wider town centre regeneration, often inheriting an old EE install along the way.
- Businesses with Stripe handling trade or retail payments wired into the site directly, an area that needs the same care as the CMS itself.
- Owners who want a developer who actually picks up the phone, not an account manager relaying messages to someone else.
How a typical engagement starts:
Most Rochdale enquiries come from a specific frustration: a stock feed that's stopped syncing, a security patch that's overdue, or simply nobody left who understands how a key part of the site was built. Karl reviews the actual codebase before quoting anything, and functional, no-frills sites like these often settle into a steady monthly retainer once the immediate issue's fixed.
Common questions Rochdale clients ask:
Do you need to be nearby to support our site properly?
No, the work happens remotely from start to finish, code changes, deployments, ongoing fixes. Rochdale's close enough for the rare occasion a visit genuinely helps.
We run trade pricing that varies by account, is that something you can work with?
Yes, and it's common in this part of the world. That kind of logic is usually custom-built rather than off-the-shelf, which is exactly why it needs proper attention rather than guesswork.
Nobody currently here built the site, is that a problem?
Not an unusual one. The first step is mapping out what's actually there, custom functionality versus stock add-ons, before any change gets made.
How out of date can our EE install be before it's a real risk?
Security matters most regardless of version number. Beyond that, older installs increasingly struggle to find maintained add-ons, which becomes the real obstacle at upgrade time.
Do you handle the payment side as well as the general site?
Yes, it's usually built directly into the templates rather than kept separate, so proper support covers both together.
What's the pricing structure?
Fixed cost for scoped project work, monthly retainer for ongoing cover. Agreed before anything starts.
What's the sensible first step?
A short call about what the site actually does, its EE version, and what's prompting the enquiry now.
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.
