About Branch
Branch is a custom software company in Chorley, Lancashire, working with organisations across the UK. We are deliberately small: the people who scope your system are the people who build it and the people who look after it afterwards.
Experience and company structure
Branch was founded by Liam Mclaney after seventeen years building business-critical software, including work for Pernod Ricard, the University of Cambridge, Nintendo and the NHS. That experience is the reason the company is shaped the way it is.
Branch is structured so that the person hearing the problem is also involved in deciding how to solve it. Clients have direct access to the technical judgement behind the work, without an account-management layer relaying it.
We keep a small number of active clients and favour long relationships over a pipeline of launches. When a project calls for extra capacity or a specialist skill, we bring in people we have trusted for years.
Software ownership
The code, the repositories and the documentation belong to you. Nothing is held inside a proprietary platform you cannot leave, and we build so that another competent developer could take over if they ever needed to. Our job is to make sure you would rather we stayed involved.
Liam Mclaney
Founder and technical lead. On every project from the first conversation to the last deployment.
How we work
Early technical advice
We will say when an existing product would serve you better, when a proposed feature is unnecessary or when a plan creates avoidable problems later.
Usable project phases
We divide work into usable phases so you can test important assumptions before the full budget has been committed.
Documentation and handover
We document the system and its important technical decisions as we work, so another competent developer can take over.
Ongoing support after launch
Most clients continue working with us after launch for maintenance, support and further development.
Talk to Liam about your project
Branch Agency Ltd, Chorley, Lancashire. Working with organisations across the UK.