Website rescue: taking on a site somebody else built
Developer gone quiet, or gone for good? We assess, recover and take it from here.
When the person who built it is no longer in the picture
The freelancer who built your site has stopped answering. The agency has closed, or the relationship has run its course. Nobody in the business knows where the domain is registered, what the hosting costs or how to log in to half of it.
This is most of the work we do. Since 2009 we have taken on websites and systems that other people built, from WordPress sites to bespoke PHP, Laravel and CodeIgniter applications, and plenty that arrived with no documentation at all.
How a rescue works
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Assessment
A fixed-price review of the code, hosting, accounts and security. You get a written report in plain English: what is at risk, what is fine, and what it would cost to keep the system or to replace it.
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Recovery
We get control of what the business owns: domains, hosting, DNS, repositories and mail. Ownership follows the business and the billing, not the developer, so most of it can be reclaimed through the providers.
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Stabilise
Urgent findings first: anything exposed, anything about to expire, anything that could take the site down. Then backups you can trust, monitoring, and the updates that have been missed.
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Care
Monitoring stays on and a monthly plan keeps the site updated and supported. Longer-term improvements, or a rebuild, happen when you are ready and not before.
Access is usually recoverable, even when nobody will hand it over
Domain registrar accounts, hosting, DNS, code repositories and mailboxes can nearly always be recovered through the providers, because the business and the billing establish ownership, not the person who set them up.
We have done this many times and know the process for the common registrars and hosts. If something genuinely cannot be recovered, we tell you early, along with the way round it.
Rebuilding is sometimes the cheaper answer over three years. Sometimes it is an expensive way to avoid reading somebody else's code.
You get both numbers before you decide
We only recommend a rebuild if it is true, and only with the cost of both options in front of you: what it takes to bring the current system up to standard and run it for three years, against what a rebuild costs and what it would fix.
Often the right answer is to stabilise now and plan a rebuild for when the business is ready. When the system really has reached the end of the road, we say so, and our website rebuild service keeps what works.
Questions about website rescue
Can you take on a site somebody else built?
Yes, and that is most of this work. WordPress, bespoke PHP, Laravel, CodeIgniter and plenty of things nobody documented. The assessment exists precisely because every inherited system is different.
What if the previous developer will not hand anything over?
We have done this many times. Domain registrar records, hosting accounts, DNS, repositories and mail can usually be recovered through the providers, because ownership follows the business and the billing, not the developer. We will tell you early if something genuinely cannot be recovered and what the way round it is.
Will you just tell me to start again?
Only if it is true, and only with the cost of both options in front of you. Rebuilding is sometimes the cheaper answer over three years, and sometimes it is an expensive way to avoid reading somebody else’s code. We will say which one this is.
Do you have to be local?
No. We are based in Cornwall and we work with clients across the UK. Recovery and ongoing care are done remotely, and we come to you when being in the room is worth it.
How quickly can you start?
Assessments are usually booked within a week or two. If something is actively down or exposed, tell us when you get in touch and we will deal with that first.