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Section — ServicesCatalogue / S01 → S12

What we deliver

Twelve services, one delivery model.

The catalogue below describes the services SPELL BOOK AND CANDLE LTD provides. Every engagement, regardless of category, is delivered by a senior team with named leads and written accountability for the work.

Layered translucent glass panels representing cloud and platform architecture
  1. Service
    S01

    Custom Software Development

    Bespoke applications engineered around real workflows, integrated with the systems your organisation already runs on. We treat each build as a long-lived asset: designed for maintainability, documented for continuity, and instrumented for production from day one.

    Typical use cases
    • /Replacing a spreadsheet-based process that has outgrown its container
    • /Building an internal operations tool that no off-the-shelf product fits
    • /Extending an existing product with a differentiated feature set
    Key deliverables
    • /Architecture documentation and decision records
    • /Source code with automated test coverage proportional to risk
    • /CI/CD pipeline and reproducible environments
    • /Operational runbook and handover materials
    Business benefits
    • /Software shaped to the business, not the other way around
    • /Reduced manual work and error rates in daily operations
    • /A foundation that can be extended without rewrites
    Relevant technology
    • TypeScript
    • Python
    • React
    • Node.js
    • PostgreSQL
  2. Service
    S02

    Web Application Development

    Modern web applications built with server-side rendering, accessibility, and performance treated as engineering requirements. From customer-facing portals to complex internal dashboards, we build interfaces that are fast, understandable, and durable.

    Typical use cases
    • /Customer portals with authenticated workflows
    • /Administrative and back-office dashboards
    • /Marketing sites that need to integrate with internal systems
    Key deliverables
    • /Responsive, accessible interfaces meeting WCAG 2.2 AA
    • /Performance budget and Core Web Vitals monitoring
    • /Component library aligned to the client's brand and content model
    Business benefits
    • /Interfaces that work reliably across devices and connections
    • /Lower support burden through clearer UX
    • /A codebase that other engineers can safely extend
    Relevant technology
    • React
    • Next.js
    • TanStack
    • Tailwind
    • Vite
  3. Service
    S03

    Cloud Solutions

    Reference architectures, migrations, and platform engineering on AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. We design cloud environments as first-class systems: version-controlled infrastructure, explicit boundaries, least-privilege identity, and observability wired in from the beginning.

    Typical use cases
    • /Migrating on-premise workloads to a managed cloud platform
    • /Establishing a shared platform for multiple internal product teams
    • /Rationalising a cloud estate that grew organically over years
    Key deliverables
    • /Infrastructure-as-code (Terraform or equivalent)
    • /Network, identity, and secrets architecture
    • /Cost attribution and budget alerts by service
    • /Runbooks for common operational scenarios
    Business benefits
    • /Predictable, reproducible environments
    • /Cloud spend that is understandable and attributable
    • /A platform other teams can safely build on
    Relevant technology
    • AWS
    • Azure
    • GCP
    • Terraform
    • Kubernetes
  4. Service
    S04

    IT Infrastructure Consulting

    Independent review and design of the systems that sit beneath applications: networking, identity, endpoint management, backup, and operational tooling. We take the current state as we find it and produce a practical plan to move it forward.

    Typical use cases
    • /Assessing an inherited infrastructure after an acquisition
    • /Consolidating tooling across previously independent teams
    • /Preparing infrastructure for an upcoming compliance review
    Key deliverables
    • /Written assessment of current state and risks
    • /Target architecture with prioritised transition plan
    • /Vendor-neutral recommendations with trade-offs made explicit
    Business benefits
    • /Clear understanding of what you actually run
    • /A defensible plan for the next 12–24 months
    • /Fewer surprises during audits and incidents
    Relevant technology
    • Identity providers
    • Networking
    • Endpoint
    • Monitoring
  5. Service
    S05

    Cybersecurity Support

    Practical security engineering aligned to recognised frameworks. We conduct threat modelling during design, harden defaults, review dependencies continuously, and run structured programs for organisations that need to raise their posture without hiring a full team.

    Typical use cases
    • /Preparing for ISO 27001, SOC 2, or comparable assessments
    • /Hardening a cloud environment after a security review
    • /Establishing baseline monitoring, logging, and incident response
    Key deliverables
    • /Threat model and control mapping
    • /Identity, secrets, and access review procedures
    • /Logging, monitoring, and alerting configuration
    • /Incident response runbooks and tabletop exercises
    Business benefits
    • /Security understood as a property of the system, not a document
    • /Reduced likelihood and impact of incidents
    • /Readiness for third-party audits without last-minute effort
    Relevant technology
    • ISO 27001
    • SOC 2
    • NIST CSF
    • OWASP ASVS
  6. Service
    S06

    Systems Integration

    Connecting the tools an organisation already relies on — CRM, ERP, billing, identity, analytics — into coherent, observable pipelines. We replace fragile point-to-point connections with well-defined contracts and error handling that surfaces problems early.

    Typical use cases
    • /Synchronising customer, order, or financial data across systems
    • /Providing a single view of an entity that lives in multiple tools
    • /Retiring bespoke scripts that only one person understands
    Key deliverables
    • /Integration architecture and data flow diagrams
    • /Typed contracts and validation between systems
    • /Idempotent, retryable jobs with observable failure modes
    Business benefits
    • /Consistent data across the tools people actually use
    • /Fewer manual reconciliations and hand-offs
    • /Predictable behaviour when upstream systems change
    Relevant technology
    • REST
    • GraphQL
    • Webhooks
    • Message queues
    • ETL
  7. Service
    S07

    API Development

    Well-designed APIs — internal or external — with clear contracts, versioning, and documentation. We treat APIs as long-lived interfaces: designed for the consumers they will actually have, not the ones a whiteboard imagined.

    Typical use cases
    • /Exposing an internal system to partner integrations
    • /Building a public API alongside a product
    • /Restructuring an internal API surface for a new front-end
    Key deliverables
    • /OpenAPI or GraphQL schema with generated documentation
    • /Authentication, rate-limiting, and quota controls
    • /Versioning strategy and deprecation policy
    Business benefits
    • /Integrations that survive changes to the underlying system
    • /A predictable developer experience for consumers
    • /Clear boundaries between systems and teams
    Relevant technology
    • OpenAPI
    • GraphQL
    • gRPC
    • OAuth2
    • OIDC
  8. Service
    S08

    Data Management

    Data platforms that make information usable across a business: warehousing, modelling, quality, and lineage. We build data systems that finance, operations, and product teams can reason about together, rather than argue about.

    Typical use cases
    • /Consolidating operational data into a warehouse for analysis
    • /Building trustworthy metrics for finance and leadership
    • /Supporting product decisions with behavioural data
    Key deliverables
    • /Warehouse schema and ingestion pipelines
    • /Metric definitions and data-quality tests
    • /Access model aligned to data sensitivity
    Business benefits
    • /Reports different teams can agree on
    • /Confidence in the numbers used to make decisions
    • /A foundation for later analytics and machine-learning work
    Relevant technology
    • PostgreSQL
    • BigQuery
    • Snowflake
    • dbt
    • Airflow
  9. Service
    S09

    Software Modernisation

    Careful, incremental modernisation of legacy systems. We prefer strangler-style migrations, structured re-platforming, and targeted rewrites over full rebuilds. The goal is a system that is easier to change without a period of unavailability along the way.

    Typical use cases
    • /Retiring an unsupported framework without stopping the business
    • /Extracting a critical component from a monolith
    • /Moving from bespoke infrastructure onto managed services
    Key deliverables
    • /Assessment of legacy risk and modernisation options
    • /Incremental migration plan with reversible steps
    • /Test harnesses and shadow environments to protect behaviour
    Business benefits
    • /Continuous delivery of value during migration
    • /Lower long-term maintenance and hiring cost
    • /A system your engineers actually want to work on
    Relevant technology
    • Refactoring
    • Strangler pattern
    • Contract tests
    • Feature flags
  10. Service
    S10

    Quality Assurance

    Testing that reflects how the system will actually be used. We combine unit and contract tests for internal correctness with integration, end-to-end, and targeted performance tests for user-facing behaviour, all running on every commit.

    Typical use cases
    • /Establishing a test strategy for a growing engineering team
    • /Adding safety nets around a critical legacy module
    • /Preparing a release for a high-visibility launch
    Key deliverables
    • /Written test strategy and coverage targets
    • /Automated test suites integrated into CI
    • /Accessibility and performance checks in the pipeline
    Business benefits
    • /Fewer regressions reaching production
    • /Faster, more confident releases
    • /A team that can refactor without fear
    Relevant technology
    • Vitest
    • Playwright
    • pytest
    • k6
    • axe
  11. Service
    S11

    Technical Consulting

    Independent technical advice for leadership teams: architecture review, technology selection, engineering practice, and due diligence. Written work you can share with a board or an investor without translation.

    Typical use cases
    • /Pre-investment or pre-acquisition technical due diligence
    • /Independent review of an in-progress or troubled programme
    • /Selecting a platform or vendor for a significant commitment
    Key deliverables
    • /Written assessment with clearly stated evidence and assumptions
    • /Prioritised recommendations with cost and risk considered
    • /Follow-up sessions with the teams involved
    Business benefits
    • /Decisions made on evidence rather than intuition
    • /Clarity about what to change first
    • /An outside perspective from people who build, not just advise
    Relevant technology
    • Architecture
    • Due diligence
    • Vendor selection
  12. Service
    S12

    Ongoing IT Support

    Long-term operational partnership for the systems we build, and for systems we inherit. Named engineers, defined response commitments, transparent reporting, and a clear escalation path — not an anonymous ticket queue.

    Typical use cases
    • /Operating a bespoke platform on behalf of a client
    • /Providing engineering coverage outside a client team's hours
    • /Maintaining a critical internal system alongside its original team
    Key deliverables
    • /Service definition with response and resolution commitments
    • /Monitoring, alerting, and on-call arrangements
    • /Monthly written report on activity, incidents, and improvements
    Business benefits
    • /A stable, accountable partner for systems that must keep running
    • /Continuity of context across changes in your team
    • /Predictable operational cost
    Relevant technology
    • Monitoring
    • On-call
    • Runbooks
    • Change management