For UK businesses
What working together looks like in practice
The practical questions UK businesses ask before committing: when you can reach me, how the money works, and what happens at 5pm on a Friday when something breaks.
Time zones and getting hold of me
Spain is on Central European Time, one hour ahead of the UK. A message sent at nine in the morning your time reaches me at ten, and you get a reply the same morning instead of the next day. That single hour is the whole difference, and it's why working with somebody in Spain feels nothing like working with a team eight hours out.
You reach me on WhatsApp, email or a call, whichever you already use. No ticket system, no first-line support, and nobody asking you to clear your cache before they'll look at the problem. I answer within 24 hours as a rule, and usually a good deal faster.
Invoicing, VAT and payment
You're invoiced in euros
Invoices come from a Spanish-registered business, priced in euros. Your bank or card converts at the rate on the day. On a typical project the gap between a good and a bad rate is a few pounds, not a decision point.
Spanish IVA is generally not added for UK businesses
For business-to-business services the place of supply is normally where the customer is, so Spanish IVA is not usually charged on work for a UK business. Your accountant handles it their end under the reverse charge if you're VAT registered.
Payment is straightforward
Bank transfer or card. Projects are usually split into a deposit and a balance on completion, with larger builds staged across milestones.
Check it with your own accountant
I'm a web developer, not an accountant. The above is how it normally works for my UK clients, but get your accountant to confirm how it applies to your business before you rely on it.
When something goes wrong
Every site I look after is monitored around the clock. If it goes down I'm alerted, so I often know before you do. The first message usually goes from me to the client, not the other way round.
For anything urgent you message me directly. Whether I fix it at eleven at night depends on what it is and what your care plan covers, but you won't be sitting in a queue behind other people's tickets, and you won't be waiting for an office in another country to open.
Who owns what at the end
You do. Every login is handed over, the hosting and domain can sit in your name, and the site is built on standard, open technology instead of something locked to a proprietary platform. If you decide in two years that you'd rather use somebody else, you can, and nothing needs my permission or cooperation.
This matters more than it sounds. A great deal of the rescue work I do is for businesses whose previous developer held the keys: hosting in the agency's name, no admin access, a theme nobody else can edit. It's an avoidable situation, and I won't put you in it.
FAQs
Other things UK clients ask
If yours is not here, ask it on the call. You will get a straight answer, including when the answer is no.
5 questions
01How do I know you will still be there in six months?
Fair question, and the answer is that you check. There are public Trustpilot reviews going back years, client sites you can open right now, and two SaaS products of my own that aren't going anywhere. I hand over every login at the end of a build too, so if I did vanish you'd still own the lot.
02What if something breaks and you're in another country?
Being in Spain makes no practical difference. I'm one hour ahead of you and reachable on WhatsApp, email or a call. Every site I look after is monitored 24/7, so I usually know before you do. A developer forty minutes down the M1 who doesn't answer their phone is worse than one in Calpe who does.
03Is this just cheaper because it's offshore?
It's cheaper because there's no agency around me. No account manager, no sales team, no city-centre office with a rent to cover. You pay for the person doing the work instead of the four people sitting between you and them. The work itself is to the same standard you'd get from a good UK agency.
04Do we ever need to meet in person?
Almost never, and I'd say the same about a developer in the next county. Everything runs on calls, screen-shares and messages. If you do want to meet, I'm in the UK periodically and it can usually be arranged.
05Can you work with our existing hosting and domain?
Yes. UK hosting, UK domain registrars, whatever you already have. I work with it instead of insisting you move. If your current setup is holding the site back I'll say so and explain why, but the decision stays yours.
Get in touch
Still got a question I haven't answered?
Ask it directly. A twenty-minute call costs you nothing and you get a straight answer, including the times when the answer is that I'm not the right person for the job.
Or email [email protected]. I reply within 24 hours.