NORTHCODERS LIMITED
Software Engineering Support
Northcoders (t/a Counter) provides cost-effective, flexible solutions to support clients’ cloud software engineering projects. Our blended teams, led by experienced Tech Leads, will help deliver your tech roadmap. The Software Engineering Consultants will be fully integrated into your culture and retained as FTEs on conclusion of the project.
Features
- Tech agnostic Consultants with best practice ingrained from the start
- Teams are primed to embed the best modern tech practices
- Experienced Tech Leads with extensive cloud software project experience
- Software Engineers are skilled collaborators, collectively achieving specific project outcomes
- Blended expertise across software, data, and cloud
- Blended teams of Software Engineers, Architects and support staff
- Dedicated Software Engineer Lead reduces pressure on client management teams
- Consultants will work seamlessly with your processes and ceremonies
- The Software Engineering teams are rapidly mobilised (days not weeks)
- On-site , remote or hybrid models dependent on client preferences
Benefits
- Cost and timelines are controlled via Agile Scrum Delivery
- Consultants are natural problem solvers who grasp technical concepts quickly
- Cost-effective, low risk approach with long-term strategic and organisational benefits
- Cost-effective: onshore Software Engineering Team at a nearshore price
- Ability to hire the Software Engineering Consultants mitigates "brain drain"
- Our approach enables clients to "try before you buy"
- Software Engineering Consultants deployed from a diverse talent pool
- Cloud Software Support Teams are agile and self-managing
- Comprehensive selection and onboarding ensures Consultants are engaged and motivated
- Proven software engineering track record across Corporates and HMG
Pricing
£275 a unit a day
Service documents
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Framework
G-Cloud 14
Service ID
5 7 9 4 2 1 9 6 1 0 4 5 7 8 5
Contact
NORTHCODERS LIMITED
Amul Batra
Telephone: +447976851033
Email: amul@northcoders.com
Planning
- Planning service
- Yes
- How the planning service works
- We will engage with the client in a Discovery Workshop, led by Counter's Technical Director and the Tech Lead assigned for the project, in order to fully understand the client’s desired outcomes and validate that we can deliver on them. This will include ensuring that we understand the end users, their context, and any constraints involved. Counter will adopt best practice, including working in line with the principles of the GDS discovery phase. The workshop can take place in person or via the client’s preferred teleconferencing platform (e.g., Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Zoom).
- Planning service works with specific services
- No
Training
- Training service provided
- Yes
- How the training service works
- Counter offers a range of training and will utilise the approach/es best suited to the client’s aims and requirements. We offer client upskilling, which can be delivered formally, where we utilise some of our training methodologies in a formal classroom environment, or informally, where staff are mentored as part of an embedded team. We can also provide end user training. Our first step would be to identify the various personas that require the training; we would then work with the client to develop training schedules (either on a Train the Trainer or floorwalker basis) to help end users maximise the benefit of the system being deployed. Training can be delivered in person or via the client’s preferred teleconferencing platform (e.g., Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Zoom).
- Training is tied to specific services
- No
Setup and migration
- Setup or migration service available
- Yes
- How the setup or migration service works
- Counter is used to working in rainbow teams with a variety of partners in the client’s estate, doing so in accordance with the Digital Playbook and other relevant artefacts. Typically, our service involves the Technical Lead joining the department for 1-2 weeks before the full deployment begins in order to understand the clients’ needs and how they operate, as well as to set up knowledge transfer programmes to ensure that our can hit the ground running.
- Setup or migration service is for specific cloud services
- No
Quality assurance and performance testing
- Quality assurance and performance testing service
- Yes
- How the quality assurance and performance testing works
- Around six weeks into the project, Counter will engage in a delivery quality review, during which we will assess a number of functional and non-functional requirements to ensure that the team is set up to succeed and that our work is in line with best practice. We employ approaches such as test-driven development and pairing engineers to ensure quality, as well as utilising whichever testing framework/practice is best suited to project (e.g., unit, integration, or performance tests). We build in non-functional requirements around performance, observability, security, and maintainability, as well as creating a CI/CD pipeline to improve quality and accelerate delivery.
Security testing
- Security services
- No
Ongoing support
- Ongoing support service
- No
Service scope
- Service constraints
- No
User support
- Email or online ticketing support
- Email or online ticketing
- Support response times
- Counter can utilise the client’s own ticketing system or our own, depending on their preference. Support is available between 9am and 5:30pm Monday to Friday (excluding public bank holidays), but broader support times can be negotiated.
- User can manage status and priority of support tickets
- No
- Phone support
- No
- Web chat support
- No
- Support levels
- Support is available between 9am and 5:30pm Monday to Friday (excluding public bank holidays), but broader support times can be negotiated.
Resellers
- Supplier type
- Not a reseller
Staff security
- Staff security clearance
- Other security clearance
- Government security clearance
- Up to Security Clearance (SC)
Standards and certifications
- ISO/IEC 27001 certification
- No
- ISO 28000:2007 certification
- No
- CSA STAR certification
- No
- PCI certification
- No
- Cyber essentials
- Yes
- Cyber essentials plus
- Yes
- Other security certifications
- No
Social Value
- Social Value
-
Social Value
- Fighting climate change
- Tackling economic inequality
- Equal opportunity
Fighting climate change
Counter's sustainability ethos is threaded throughout all aspects of our business. We empower our employees to create groups such as our Climate Action Group. Our HQ at Manchester Technology Centre supports our commitment in reducing the impact our work has on the environment. Onsite bike storage & the locality to Manchester Oxford Road train station enables our team to use public transport & bike-to-work schemes to commute. We offer all services online for remote working—further reducing our impact.
We have a strict policy that we only utilise companies with evidenced environmental credentials to ensure we reduce Counter's impact. Our three main suppliers, by spend, are:
—Rented Office Space – rented through Bruntwood, who retrofit unloved buildings & pioneer eco-friendly workspaces.
—Hardware – sourced from Apple & Microsoft. Both companies are committed to carbon neutrality/becoming Carbon Retro.
—Cloud – we use AWS. Amazon invest in renewable energy to power their datacentres, use energy-efficient hardware, & can lower customers’ workload carbon footprints by nearly 80% versus on-premises computing.
Everything we teach at Counter focuses on code efficiency, which ensures our staff & students aim to always use as little processing power as possible. Because of our ethos, many students’ final projects have reflected awareness/consideration of environmental issues. Examples from the last year of our cohorts include:
—THE CHANGING ROOM: reducing the environmental impact of fashion & raising money for charity,
—VESTED: helping first-time investors with an interest in ethical investing explore their options.
At Counter we ensure customers are aware of the environmental advantages of remote working & hold a ‘Remote-first’ policy. We additionally assist customers in understanding the advantages of moving from on-premises servers to Cloud. This is supported by our access to AWS resources, which can show the potential environmental & cost savings.Tackling economic inequality
Counter recognise that tackling economic inequality is not just about our internal business practices, it extends across our value chain, concerning our suppliers, customers, partners, & local communities too. We ensure that all of our staff are paid a fair living wage in concurrence with the rates outlined by the Living Wage Foundation.
We work with organisations such as Dynamo’s Tech Talent Engine & Manchester Digital to support growth within the tech industry. These projects drive collaboration across employers & education providers to articulate the digital career paths available more clearly to people within the region & support early-career & new-to-digital roles.
Various skill-enhancing programmes, such as Digital Leadership Workshops & the Confidence Collective programme for women, form a key aspect of our business offering. Northcoders Group company, Tech Returners, supports individuals who left the tech industry to return to jobs in line with their previous skillset. The average increase in salary for these returners hired post-programme is £18,483, with 92% reporting an increase in confidence. This programme also keenly supports marginalised groups, with people of colour making up approximately 70% of the cohort, as well as approximately 60% identifying as women.
Our courses are free for job seekers, with government-funded scholarships available to provide accessibility to low-income & out-of-work individuals. Through our partnerships with five FCA-regulated lenders—EdAid, Knoma, Coursebud, StepEx, & StudentFinance—we provide further funding options, with repayment over up to 48 months or only once a graduate earns above £24,000.
We also recognise the importance of ensuring our team are safely & legally employed. As such, we acknowledge our responsibilities in relation to tackling modern slavery & comply with the provisions in the Modern Slavery Act 2015.Equal opportunity
We make all efforts to tackle workforce inequality across all nine protected characteristics. From our 2022 census, 44% of our staff were people of colour, whilst 26% identified as women. We work with initiatives such as WiLD, Innovate Her, & Brave New Women to encourage & develop female applicants/staff. Our board-level commitment is to reach an equal gender split by the end of 2024.
Through our group company, Tech Returners, we retrain & redeploy technical staff who may have left their careers due to illness, pregnancy, or becoming carers. Of our 2022 Tech Returners students, approximately 70% were people of colour, and approximately 60% identified as women.
We are committed to the government’s Disability Confident Scheme & ensure that accessibility requirements do not hinder anyone’s application or employment with Counter. We have a partnership with Differing Minds to promote neurodiversity initiatives. Through flexible & remote working, and the provision of assistive technology for staff in need, we enable our staff to work confidently & comfortably.
Counter collaborate with regional tech events such as Leeds Digital Festival & the Digital Cities Festival, networking with professionals in our community & therefore reaching out to potential new team members. We are a proud partner with Talk English Manchester, who support people to improve their language skills, access services, & get more involved in the community. Where applicants demonstrate industry expertise but have low English skills, we work with Talk English to provide relevant language training through this partnership.
Counter have heavily invested in systems to allow us to manage team progression, & allow them to reflect on their knowledge, & identify strengths/weaknesses. Through PICS, for example, we have access to a comprehensive suite of analyses, including achievement rates, progression & more. This allows us to guide career development & encourage reflection.
Pricing
- Price
- £275 a unit a day
- Discount for educational organisations
- No
Service documents
Request an accessible format
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format,
email the supplier at amul@northcoders.com.
Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.