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Backend engineering
Robust backends built to scale
Architecture that fits
Performance you can measure
Security baked in
Your backend shouldn't be holding you back
Backends have a way of becoming a bottleneck. What starts as a few slow queries or a quick fix that never got revisited can quietly grow into something that holds everything back. We've helped companies tackle all kinds of challenges, from big balls of mud to overengineered microservice architectures.
In the trenches with your team
We figure out what's slowing you down, put the right monitoring in place so you catch problems before your users do, and build architecture and infrastructure that scales with documentation that actually makes sense.
We genuinely love this work
Untangling messy systems and building something solid in their place is what gets us going. Security gaps, infrastructure struggling under growth, overengineered services — there's no silver bullet, but there is a way of working that delivers results.
Concrete outcomes, not just code
We focus on delivering measurable improvements across four key areas that matter most to your product and team.
Performance & architecture
We optimise your backend properly with architecture that fits, data you can trust, and infrastructure that performs. No over-engineering, just solid foundations.
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Making data work for you
Databases should work hard, not just hold data. We get the schemas right, nail the indexing, and tune queries so your app stays fast as it grows.
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Testing you can trust
Shipping with confidence isn't optional. We build a testing strategy that makes sense and implement it across unit, integration, and end-to-end tests. No more crossing fingers on deploy.
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Secure by design
Security is baked in from the start, not treated as an afterthought. We implement industry best practices so your systems stay protected without becoming a nightmare to maintain.
Learn moreOur approach
“By getting in the trenches alongside your engineers, we build something solid and leave your team stronger than we found them.”
Why companies call us in
These problems are incredibly common. The good news? They're all solvable, without starting from scratch.
Happy clients
We work with companies that want to get their backend right. Here are examples of how our approach translated into real results.
Software EngineeringCTO as a Service
Fixform
Keeping buildings and spaces in good, safe and clean condition
After their technical co-founder departed unexpectedly, we stepped in with two staff engineers to build a quality-first MVP using Inertia.js, Vue, and Laravel. We established robust CI/CD pipelines, implemented comprehensive testing, and mentored the team through knowledge transfer.
Latest insights
Our latest thinking on backend engineering, performance optimisation, and building better systems.
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Technical debt lost its excuse
3 min read
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We can help create your backend
Whether your backend is slowing you down, holding back new features, or just needs a refresh — we're ready to dig in.
Frequently asked questions
Everything you need to know about working with our backend engineers.
We bring deep expertise across the modern backend ecosystem including Node.js, Python, Go, Java, Ruby, PHP, and more. We adapt to your existing stack rather than imposing our preferences.
Absolutely. We specialise in brownfield development, improving what already exists. We excel at refactoring legacy codebases, untangling complex systems, and modernising architectures while your application continues running in production.
We start by profiling your application to identify actual bottlenecks. Then we implement targeted optimisations like database query optimisation, caching strategies, API response optimisation, and proper architecture patterns. We focus on measurable improvements, not theoretical perfection.
Yes. We help establish, maintain, and scale API architectures that ensure consistency and reliability across your services. We work with REST, GraphQL, gRPC, and other modern API patterns.
Security is built into our development process. We follow security best practices, implement proper authentication and authorisation, use secure coding patterns, and conduct security reviews to ensure your backend is protected.
We establish comprehensive testing strategies using tools like Jest, pytest, Go testing, JUnit, and more. We implement unit tests, integration tests, API tests, and end-to-end tests to catch issues before they reach production.
Knowledge transfer is core to our approach. Through pair programming, collaborative code reviews, and comprehensive documentation, we ensure your team gains the skills and confidence to continue building after we're gone.
Most engagements last between 3 and 12 months depending on the scope. We stay long enough to make meaningful improvements and ensure your team is confident to continue independently.
We're technology-agnostic, focusing on solving your problems rather than pushing our preferred tools. We specialise in improving existing codebases rather than pushing for rewrites. And we plan our exit from day one, where success means your team's independence, not dependence.