Somerset Design

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4.6/5 (12 reviews)
+441172140054 joinus@somersetdesign.co.uk Visit Website

About Somerset Design

Somerset Design is a software development company. They can develop every aspect of your site, from graphic design and copywrite to custom development. They can perform a full range of SEO and internet marketing services to help you succeed online. Their developers work closely with their designers, they have a passion and a dedication.

Services

Mobile App Development Web Development UI-UX Design Web Design Branding E-commerce Development SEO

Industries Served

Legal Services Gaming & Gambling

Somerset Design Reviews

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Data platform that turned five years of siloed records into a unified analytical asset

Fatima Al-Suwaidi / Head of Digital Strategy - Gulf FinTech Holdings
Verified
Jan 05, 2026

Project summary: Matter management had become a significant overhead for our fee earners. Every hour spent on administration was an hour not spent on billable advisory work — the business case was straightforward.

We gave this team an aggressive timeline, a technically complex scope, and a client-side project team that was stretched thin and not always available at the speed the engagement required. They absorbed all of that gracefully. Where they needed input they were precise about what they needed and when. Where they could proceed independently they did. The result was a delivery that landed on time despite the constraints on our side, which I regard as evidence of genuine professional maturity.

PROS

Delivery timeline that proved achievable rather than optimistic, estimation accuracy that reflected real analysis rather than competitive bidding, scope discipline that prevented the feature creep we had experienced before

CONS

Pipeline availability for kickoff required a few weeks of lead time — in hindsight that selection pressure means you are working with a team that is in demand for the right reasons

4.5
Overall
5.0
Quality
5.0
Schedule
4.5
Cost
4.5
Communication
Project TypeData & Analytics
IndustryLegal Services
Project CostLess than $10,000
DurationMay 2025 – Dec 2025

Questions & Answers

Please describe your company, your role, and the industry you operate in.
I lead technology at Gulf FinTech Holdings, a growth-stage Legal Services business based in Abu Dhabi, UAE. As Head of Digital Strategy my remit spans product engineering, platform operations, and strategic vendor partnerships. We had reached an inflection point where our internal capacity was not sufficient to execute our roadmap at the pace our market required.
What specific problem or business challenge led you to hire this company?
The immediate problem was that our Data & Analytics capability had become the bottleneck limiting our ability to grow. Every feature request, every new client requirement, every internal initiative was delayed by a platform that had been extended beyond its original design. We needed a rebuild, not a patch.
What services did the company provide for your project?
The scope covered the full Data & Analytics lifecycle: discovery and requirements definition, solution architecture, iterative development across twelve sprints, integration testing, performance validation, production deployment, and a structured four-week hypercare period. They also provided system documentation and a knowledge transfer programme for our internal team.
Why did you choose this company over other providers you considered?
We ran a structured shortlisting process across five vendors. The technical evaluation eliminated two immediately. Of the remaining three, this team's proposal was differentiated by the specificity of their Data & Analytics approach and the evidence base they provided — reference projects in Legal Services contexts, not generic case studies. The reference calls confirmed a track record that the proposal had described accurately.
How clearly did the company understand your requirements and business goals?
Thoroughly and precisely. The requirements document they produced was detailed enough that our QA team used it directly to write acceptance criteria. Every user story had a defined business objective attached. Nothing was left to interpretation. That discipline in the requirements phase paid dividends throughout development and testing.
How was your overall experience with their communication and project management?
Professional and efficient. The project manager maintained a clear view of the critical path at all times and communicated changes to it transparently. The one significant scope adjustment we made mid-project was handled through a clean change request process — fairly priced, clearly documented, and absorbed without disrupting the overall timeline.
Did the company deliver the project on time and within your expected budget?
Yes to both. There was a single sprint where a dependency on a third-party API introduced a one-week delay. The team identified it three weeks in advance, presented two mitigation options, and we agreed on an approach that recovered the schedule within the same sprint cycle. That level of foresight is what separates good project management from reactive problem management.
What tangible results or business impact have you seen since the project was completed?
The ROI case we presented to our board was conservative by design. Current performance against the financial model suggests we will hit the projected payback point in under twelve months against an eighteen-month target. The operational efficiency gains in particular have exceeded the model, in part because the quality of the data the new platform generates supports decisions that the previous system could not.
What did you like most about working with this company?
The willingness to be direct. When our requirements were unclear they said so. When our priorities were contradictory they explained why. When a technical approach we had assumed was the right one turned out to have significant downsides, they told us before we had committed to it. That kind of intellectual honesty is what I look for in a long-term technology partner.
Would you recommend this company to others, and would you work with them again?
Yes. I would add the context that this is not the cheapest option in the market and they are selective about the engagements they take on. If your primary criterion is price, there are alternatives. If you want a technology partner who can be trusted with a complex Data & Analytics programme in the Legal Services space and will deliver against a serious brief, this is the team.

Monetisation system integrated in a way that players accepted rather than resented

Yuki Hashimoto / Head of Product Development - East Asia Commerce KK
Verified
Jan 03, 2026

Project summary: A previous engagement had delivered something that worked in staging and struggled in production. We approached this project with greater rigour in vendor selection as a result.

We gave this team an aggressive timeline, a technically complex scope, and a client-side project team that was stretched thin and not always available at the speed the engagement required. They absorbed all of that gracefully. Where they needed input they were precise about what they needed and when. Where they could proceed independently they did. The result was a delivery that landed on time despite the constraints on our side, which I regard as evidence of genuine professional maturity.

PROS

Senior-level engineering presence throughout the entire project, not just during the pitch, honest and commercially fair handling of scope changes, codebase that our internal team praised on review

CONS

The engagement was priced at the quality level rather than the budget level. We evaluated the alternatives and concluded that the delta was a reasonable premium for the reduction in delivery risk

4.5
Overall
5.0
Quality
4.0
Schedule
4.5
Cost
5.0
Communication
Project TypeGame Development
IndustryGaming & Gambling
Project Cost$500,000+
DurationJan 2025 – Nov 2025

Questions & Answers

Please describe your company, your role, and the industry you operate in.
I lead technology at East Asia Commerce KK, a growth-stage Gaming & Gambling business based in Osaka, Japan. As Head of Product Development my remit spans product engineering, platform operations, and strategic vendor partnerships. We had reached an inflection point where our internal capacity was not sufficient to execute our roadmap at the pace our market required.
What specific problem or business challenge led you to hire this company?
We had a defined product vision for our next phase of growth in the Gaming & Gambling market but lacked the engineering depth internally to execute it. The Game Development requirements in particular required specialist experience that we could not realistically recruit for on the timeline our business plan required.
What services did the company provide for your project?
The core engagement was Game Development delivery, though their scope expanded to include technical consultancy during discovery that materially improved our requirements. They also took ownership of the third-party integration workstream that had been a coordination challenge in previous projects, removing that complexity from our internal team entirely.
Why did you choose this company over other providers you considered?
We had a failed engagement behind us and were more rigorous in our selection process as a result. We asked detailed questions about how they managed scope change, how they handled estimation, and how they communicated problems. The answers were specific, evidenced, and consistent across the team members we spoke to. That gave us confidence that the process was real rather than rehearsed.
How clearly did the company understand your requirements and business goals?
Better than we managed ourselves going in. The workshops they facilitated surfaced assumptions we had not examined and exposed three requirements that were in direct conflict with each other. Resolving those before development began saved us what would certainly have been significant rework later in the project.
How was your overall experience with their communication and project management?
Communication was proactive, timely, and appropriately calibrated. Technical updates for the engineering audience, executive summaries for the steering group, risk flags with proposed mitigations rather than just problem statements. The fortnightly sprint reviews gave our stakeholders visibility without requiring them to attend every working session.
Did the company deliver the project on time and within your expected budget?
Yes. I had privately built a contingency expectation into my planning given the project complexity and the number of integrations involved. None of that contingency was needed. The delivery landed on the agreed date and the final invoice matched the approved budget to within a fraction of a percent. That outcome is rarer than the industry acknowledges.
What tangible results or business impact have you seen since the project was completed?
The most direct measure is the performance of the system in production. In the five months since go-live we have had zero P1 incidents, our page performance scores have improved across every Core Web Vitals metric, and two enterprise clients who had cited our previous platform limitations during contract negotiations have since renewed without that objection arising.
What did you like most about working with this company?
Their instinct for keeping the business objective visible throughout technical decision-making. I have worked with technically excellent teams who lose the strategic thread as complexity increases. This team maintained a clear connection between every architectural choice and the outcome we had agreed to achieve. That orientation made the trade-off conversations significantly easier.
Would you recommend this company to others, and would you work with them again?
Unreservedly. We are in active scoping conversations for a second engagement and I expect this to develop into a multi-year partnership. For any organisation in the Gaming & Gambling sector looking for Game Development expertise combined with genuine delivery discipline, I would put this team at the top of the evaluation list.

FAQs

What services does Somerset Design offer?
Somerset Design provides software development services that may include mobile app development, web development, custom software development, UI/UX design, cloud solutions, AI development, and enterprise application development. Its core focus areas include Branding, E-commerce Development, Mobile App Development, SEO and UI-UX Design.
How much does it cost to hire Somerset Design?
The cost of hiring Somerset Design depends on factors such as project complexity, development hours, required technologies, team size, and engagement model. Based on available data, Somerset Design's typical hourly rate is around $150 - $199, with an average project cost of $5000000+.
Is Somerset Design suitable for startups?
Yes. Many startups choose companies like Somerset Design because they offer MVP development, product consulting, scalable architecture, and dedicated development teams that help launch products quickly while managing development costs. For context, its listed capabilities span Branding, E-commerce Development, Mobile App Development, SEO and UI-UX Design, and it has been operating since 2000.
Why should businesses choose Somerset Design?
Businesses may choose Somerset Design based on factors such as technical expertise, industry experience, client reviews, development methodology, communication practices, and the ability to deliver scalable software solutions that align with business objectives. Founded in 2000, the company has built a track record of delivering projects across various industries.
Does Somerset Design offer dedicated developers?
Yes, many companies like Somerset Design provide a dedicated developer hiring model, allowing businesses to scale their in-house team with experienced professionals who work exclusively on their project. For context, its listed capabilities span Branding, E-commerce Development, Mobile App Development, SEO and UI-UX Design, and its average project cost is reported at $5000000+.
What engagement models does Somerset Design provide?
Somerset Design may offer multiple engagement models such as fixed-price contracts, dedicated team hiring, and time-and-material billing, allowing businesses to choose the option that best fits their budget and project scope. For context, it has experience across industries such as Financial Services, Media & Entertainment, Legal Services, Real Estate, Healthcare and Gaming & Gambling, and its average project cost is reported at $5000000+.
Does Somerset Design sign an NDA before starting a project?
Most professional software development companies, including Somerset Design, are willing to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) to protect client data and project confidentiality before development begins. For context, its listed capabilities span Branding, E-commerce Development, Mobile App Development, SEO and UI-UX Design, and its average project cost is reported at $5000000+.
Can Somerset Design modernize legacy software?
Somerset Design may provide legacy software modernization services, including re-platforming, code refactoring, and migration to modern frameworks or cloud infrastructure to improve performance and maintainability. For context, it has served clients in United-kingdom, and its average project cost is reported at $5000000+.
What is Somerset Design's software development process?
Somerset Design typically follows a structured software development process that may include requirement analysis, UI/UX design, agile development sprints, quality assurance testing, deployment, and post-launch support. For context, it has served clients in United-kingdom, and its average project cost is reported at $5000000+.
How do I request a proposal from Somerset Design?
You can request a proposal from Somerset Design by submitting your project requirements through its website contact form, email, or by reaching out directly to discuss your business goals and receive a tailored development estimate. For context, its listed capabilities span Branding, E-commerce Development, Mobile App Development, SEO and UI-UX Design, and it has experience across industries such as Financial Services, Media & Entertainment, Legal Services, Real Estate, Healthcare and Gaming & Gambling.

Company Info

Founded 2000
Employees 10 - 49
Hourly Rate $150 - $199
Avg. Project Cost $35,000+
Client Rating 4.6/5 (12 reviews)

Rating Breakdown

Quality
4.8
Schedule
4.6
Cost
4.7
Communication
4.6