30 years building and running platforms, including Harvey Nichols, The Cotswold Company and Magical Mushroom Company.
weeks to a plan, stack and costs you keep
2
days a week, not a full-time hire
1–3
years building and running platforms
30
Sound familiar?
Most founders hit the same three errors before a line of code is written.
~/your-start-upzsh
$ find technical-co-founder0 results. You have the idea and the funding, but no technical co-founder.
$ compare agency-quotesThey vary wildly, and you can't tell which one is right.
$ answer investor --technicalNot yet. Investors are asking questions you can't answer.
$ book-a-call
From idea to a team that runs it.
Start with a two-week Foundations Sprint: a clear plan, stack, costs and hiring plan that you keep whatever happens next. Then build it stage by stage, with a senior technical lead throughout.
01 · 2 weeks · start here
Foundations Sprint
Architecture, stack, running costs, build plan and hiring plan.
02 · 6–8 weeks
Proof of concept
Test the riskiest part of your idea with working software.
03
First version
Your MVP, built with CI/CD, automated tests and access control from day one.
04
First hires
Hire the engineers who will run it, with any agency kept to account alongside them.
05
Handover
Your own team takes over.
Recent work
london-property-start-upco-founder · platform to launch
Built a property platform from proof of concept to production launch.
poc
refine
devops
promo
live
I'm a co-founder and built the application from the ground up: a proof of concept, refined into a production-ready platform with its DevOps, then launched. The launch campaign took nine days: a team of AI agents, with a person approving every step, produced the brand system, a four-ad Meta campaign, video, print and SEO fixes.
A headless commerce build with near-zero downtime, at a fraction of the usual running cost.
mmc-storefront/
├── bigcommerce
├── next.js
├── storyblok
└── vercel
CTO, running the online eCommerce subsidiary that sold its off-the-shelf products. It used the technologies and principles of a much larger enterprise, on lower tiers that could scale up at any point: building for the future doesn't have to mean paying future costs now. Agency and in-house developers worked as one team, with automated testing and atomic deployments.
I've spent 30 years building and running digital platforms, as CTO at Magical Mushroom Company and Head of Engineering at Harvey Nichols and The Cotswold Company. Hands-on and plain-spoken. I recommend whichever supplier fits, and tell you up front if I'd earn a referral fee.
2026feat: fractional CTO for start-ups, Rethink Commerce Co
2021lead: Head of Engineering, The Cotswold Company
2021cto: Magical Mushroom Company, running its eCommerce subsidiary
2013lead: Head of Engineering & Product, Harvey Nichols
2001init: Motortrak, leading a team of 25
Not a start-up?
Established companies, small businesses, agencies and suppliers get the same experience: commerce platforms, applied AI, security and governance reviews, and senior project support.
Usually one to three, depending on the stage: more while the build takes shape, less once your first engineers are in.
Who owns the code?+
You do, from the first commit. Repositories, cloud accounts and domains sit in your company's name.
Is equity an option?+
Yes, for the right project. I'm a co-founder of a London property start-up and built its platform for equity.
Can this work alongside our existing agency?+
Yes, it's how I usually work. At Harvey Nichols and The Cotswold Company I combined outsourced teams with in-house engineers, and at Magical Mushroom Company the agency and in-house developers worked as one team.
Do you take referral fees?+
Sometimes. If a supplier I recommend would pay me a referral fee, I tell you before you decide, and the fee never decides the recommendation.
