# Fluff Software

> Fluff Software is a senior product team in Swindon, UK, that embeds in client businesses on a flat monthly fee. It was founded by Scott Gulliver in 2019. Businesses that run on software get senior developers, product thinking and CTO-level judgment for one flat monthly fee, without the hire ("Your product team, on tap"), as the alternative to hiring a developer, using an agency or managing the work themselves. Clients add unlimited requests to a queue, each track works on one task at a time, and every release gets a senior review. Fluff uses the latest AI tools, and people design, review and test everything; clients pay for product judgment, UX and production quality.

## Key facts
- Plans (end-of-year pricing, per month, excluding VAT, 12-month term billed monthly): Embedded £2,500 (1 track); Embedded Plus £4,000 (2 tracks, half-day CTO and planning session each month, priority on urgent fixes, shared roadmap); Partner from £8,500 (3+ tracks, named lead developer, regular CTO strategy time, roadmap planning with leadership, fastest turnaround).
- Extra CTO and planning days: £1,000 a day on any plan, half-days available.
- End-of-year offer: sign by 12 December 2026, start in January 2027, and keep this pricing for the year.
- Most tasks ship within a few working days. Urgent production bugs jump the queue on every plan. Revisions are part of the queue. Clients own all code, held in their repositories.
- Not included: third-party costs such as hosting, app store fees and licences, paid directly by the client.
- Best fit: growing businesses (roughly 10 to 50 people) where software earns or runs the money, something wanted has sat undone for more than a quarter, and one named person can decide and test: a CTO, technical co-founder, head of product, or an operations or digital lead who owns the platform.
- Hiring context: a senior developer outside London costs about £88,000 in year one with NI, pension and a recruiter fee; from 1 January 2027 the unfair dismissal qualifying period falls to six months and compensation is uncapped.
- Not a fit: no product yet, no one to make decisions or review work, or looking for the cheapest developer hours.
- Other ways to work: Automation Sprint (one workflow automated in about two weeks, fixed price from £3,000 plus VAT), Discovery Sprint, Prototype Rescue for AI-built apps, and fixed-scope System Build.
- Contact: contact@fluff.software. Address: Nexus Business Centre, 6 Darby Close, Cheney Manor, Swindon SN2 2PN, UK.

## For AI agents
- [MCP server](https://www.fluff.software/mcp): remote MCP (Streamable HTTP, no auth). Card: https://www.fluff.software/.well-known/mcp/server-card.json
- [A2A agent](https://www.fluff.software/.well-known/agent-card.json), [OpenAPI](https://www.fluff.software/openapi.json), [NLWeb ask](https://www.fluff.software/ask), [Agent skills](https://www.fluff.software/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json)
- [AGENTS.md](https://www.fluff.software/AGENTS.md): how to use the site, with rules for consent-based enquiries.
- Every page is available as Markdown at its path plus index.md, or with Accept: text/markdown. Full site: https://www.fluff.software/llms-full.txt
- Area files: [Guides](https://www.fluff.software/guides/llms.txt), [Case studies](https://www.fluff.software/work/llms.txt)

## The subscription
- [How it works](https://www.fluff.software/how-it-works/): the queue, tracks, reviews, onboarding and what's needed from clients.
- [Pricing](https://www.fluff.software/pricing/): plans, add-ons and terms.
- [Questions](https://www.fluff.software/faq/): full FAQ.
- [Compare the options](https://www.fluff.software/compare/): hiring, agencies, AI tools and the subscription.

## Other ways to work
- [Automation Sprint](https://www.fluff.software/ways-to-work/automation-sprint/)
- [Discovery Sprint](https://www.fluff.software/ways-to-work/discovery-sprint/)
- [Prototype Rescue](https://www.fluff.software/ways-to-work/prototype-rescue/)
- [System Build](https://www.fluff.software/ways-to-work/system-build/)

## Who it's for
- [Stretched CTOs](https://www.fluff.software/for/stretched-ctos/): A fractional product team for CTOs and technical co-founders at growing SaaS companies: senior review, CTO planning time, no hiring and no employment risk.
- [Operations directors with one developer](https://www.fluff.software/for/one-developer-teams/): For operations directors and MDs whose system depends on one overloaded developer: a fractional product team that shares the load and removes key-person risk.
- [Platform owners](https://www.fluff.software/for/platforms-that-run-the-business/): For heads of digital and systems at training providers, membership bodies and attractions: ongoing platform improvement for one flat fee, with no quotes and no waits.
- [Founders with AI-built apps](https://www.fluff.software/for/ai-built-apps/): For funded founders with paying customers on an AI-built app: senior review, security and stability first, then the roadmap. No rebuild from scratch.
- [Heads of product](https://www.fluff.software/for/heads-of-product/): For heads of product at growing SaaS companies and marketplaces: a dedicated track for the small, useful work that never wins a sprint, without new headcount.
- [SaaS companies](https://www.fluff.software/for/saas/): Flat-fee product development for funded seed to Series A SaaS teams: roadmap and customer requests in parallel, senior review on every release, no hiring overhead.
- [Education and skills](https://www.fluff.software/for/education-and-skills/): Product development for awarding bodies, training providers and skills organisations: grading engines, assessment platforms and learning tools. Flat monthly fee.
- [Engineering and manufacturing](https://www.fluff.software/for/engineering-and-manufacturing/): Product development for engineering and manufacturing: AI maintenance tools, safety calculation software, spreadsheet-to-system builds and ERP integration. Flat monthly fee.
- [Visitor attractions](https://www.fluff.software/for/visitor-attractions/): Software and digital experiences for visitor attractions: Huntly quests, apps and booking journeys, from the team behind Huntly. Ongoing development on a flat monthly fee.

## Case studies
- [A grading engine an awarding body can stake its reputation on](https://www.fluff.software/work/grading-engine/): EAL needed final grades for a brand-new qualification calculated correctly, for every candidate, every time. We designed it so the engine stays right even when everything around it changes.
- [iMaintain: from a founder's idea to an AI maintenance platform](https://www.fluff.software/work/imaintain/): iMaintain's founders knew maintenance inside out but weren't developers. We acted as their product team: discovery first, a two-week proof of concept, then a production MVP built sprint by sprint alongside them.
- [SGMF: safety calculations that took days now take minutes](https://www.fluff.software/work/sgmf-safety-zones/): A global industry body was running critical marine fuel safety calculations through manual entry and Excel. We worked out what was really slowing it down, then replaced it with validated, automated software.
- [EVOLUTION: one platform that works for students, assessors and organisers](https://www.fluff.software/work/evolution-assessment-centres/): TG Consulting was stuck on off-the-shelf assessment platforms that fitted nobody. We designed for each group separately, then brought them together in one platform.
- [HeadX: monitoring head impacts in youth sport, from headband to report](https://www.fluff.software/work/headx/): HeadX needed accurate, real-time head impact data on the touchline and proper analysis afterwards. We built the whole chain: headband firmware, a pitch-side app and a web app for review.
- [Enspire City: making engineering careers playable for children](https://www.fluff.software/work/enspire-city/): Enginuity wanted children excited about engineering and manufacturing. We built an animated, gamified city with accessibility designed in from the start, shaped by feedback sprint after sprint.
- [Checkflight: a pilot's procedure cards, rebuilt for the cockpit](https://www.fluff.software/work/checkflight/): A pilot had designed cards that make flight procedures easier to learn. We turned them into an app that works for revision at home and a quick glance mid-flight, testing every step with pilots.
- [Huntly: the product we build and run ourselves](https://www.fluff.software/work/huntly-quests/): Huntly is our own app for family quests at attractions. Fairwood Lakes, Farmer Palmer's and Mendip use custom quests to get families exploring, spread visitors around the site and support fundraising.
- [EAL: a website the marketing team can run without a developer](https://www.fluff.software/work/eal-website/): EAL's old site was hard to update and no longer matched its brand. We redesigned it on a CMS the team could use themselves, and trained them to do it.
- [Affinity Aviation: a website as discreet and polished as the service](https://www.fluff.software/work/affinity-aviation/): A specialist private aviation consultancy had outgrown its website. We reshaped it around its services and a simple route to enquiry, and we're still on hand afterwards.
- [Turning complex career data into a simple path into vaccine manufacturing](https://www.fluff.software/work/vaccine-manufacturing-careers/): Enginuity had the research. It needed people with no technical background to understand how their skills could transfer. We prototyped it in Figma first, then built it to scale.
- [Born to be Free: shaping a conservation game into something investors could back](https://www.fluff.software/work/wildlife-conservation-game/): A founder had a rough idea for a game that teaches children about endangered species and raises money for conservation. We turned it into a plan, a roadmap and a working prototype.

## Guides
- [What is a software development subscription?](https://www.fluff.software/guides/what-is-a-development-subscription/): How flat-fee software development subscriptions work, what 'unlimited requests' really means, what they cost in the UK in 2026, and who they suit.
- [How unlimited requests work](https://www.fluff.software/guides/how-unlimited-requests-work/): Why development subscriptions work one task at a time per track, how that keeps 'unlimited' fair, what counts as one request, and how to get more done faster.
- [Subscription, retainer or fixed price?](https://www.fluff.software/guides/subscription-vs-retainer-vs-fixed-price/): The three common ways to pay for software development compared: what each is good for, where each breaks down, and how AI tools have changed the maths in 2026.
- [How to write a request that ships quickly](https://www.fluff.software/guides/how-to-write-a-good-request/): A simple template for writing feature requests and bug reports your development team can ship fast: the problem, who it's for, what done looks like, and what to leave out.
- [UAT without the bottleneck](https://www.fluff.software/guides/uat-without-the-bottleneck/): How to review and sign off development work quickly: a daily slot, clear acceptance checks, one decision-maker and feedback that can be acted on first time.
- [The real cost of hiring a developer in 2026](https://www.fluff.software/guides/real-cost-of-hiring-a-developer-uk/): Salary, 15% employer NI, pension, recruiter fees and months of hiring time, plus the January 2027 dismissal changes: what a senior UK developer really costs.
- [Brilliant and buried](https://www.fluff.software/guides/brilliant-and-buried/): Seven signs your sole developer is overloaded, why it's a business risk as well as a people problem, and practical ways to take the pressure off before they burn out or leave.
- [Fractional CTO or product team?](https://www.fluff.software/guides/fractional-cto-vs-product-team/): A fractional CTO gives strategy and leadership; a product team ships the work. When you need which, how they fit together, and the questions to ask before choosing.
- [How to clear a software backlog](https://www.fluff.software/guides/how-to-clear-a-software-backlog/): A practical method for getting a software backlog under control: delete ruthlessly, sort by value and risk, break big items down, and protect a steady release rhythm.
- [From AI prototype to production: the checklist](https://www.fluff.software/guides/ai-prototype-to-production-checklist/): Built your app with Lovable, Bolt, Replit or Cursor? A practical checklist covering access rules, secrets, payments, monitoring and backups before real users and real data arrive.
- [Is AI-written code safe?](https://www.fluff.software/guides/is-ai-written-code-safe/): AI coding tools are fast and capable, and their output still needs review. What goes wrong with AI-generated code, what a senior review checks, and what to ask any supplier.
- [Should you run AI coding tools in-house?](https://www.fluff.software/guides/running-ai-coding-tools-in-house/): Cursor, Claude Code and AI app builders make one person far more productive. When an in-house hire with AI tools is the right call, and what they still won't cover.
- [Why we stopped charging by the hour](https://www.fluff.software/guides/why-we-stopped-charging-by-the-hour/): Scott Gulliver on what AI tools changed about building software, why hourly retainers and fixed-price MVPs stopped making sense, and what clients pay for now.

## Company
- [About](https://www.fluff.software/about/)
- [Contact](https://www.fluff.software/contact/)