The Domain Comes First
It hurts most to lose. Registrars give it back with proof of ownership, but slowly. Some block transfers for up to 60 days after the owner details change.
Your developer is gone. We take it from here.
The site still takes orders. We keep it that way. We get back access to the domain, hosting, code and app store accounts, and move them into your name. Then we write down how the system works and run it month to month.
Broken or half-built? That is Project Rescue, because the work is finishing it.
Access recovered · in your name
What changes hands
What you hold today, and what you hold after the takeover
It starts with a list of every account the system depends on: who owns it today, and how it moves to you.
Domain
Often in the developer's personal account.
In your name, recovered through the domain registrar with proof of ownership. We start on day one.
Hosting
Billed to the agency, in their name.
In your name, recovered through the host, with all passwords reset.
Code
Sometimes the only copy is on the server.
In your own code repository (a stored, versioned copy), checked against any copy left behind.
App store accounts
On the developer's account, signing key unknown.
Moved to your own App Store and Google Play accounts. We check the signing key, which proves updates come from you, first.
Outside the code
Scheduled tasks, API keys, payment notifications and email settings that only one person knows about.
Listed and moved with the system, including the email settings (MX, SPF and DKIM records).
Documentation
In one person's head.
How it is built, put live and backed up, written down next to the code.
Who answers
Nobody to call if it breaks tomorrow.
The same engineers update, watch and back it up, and answer when it breaks.
What we already know
The parts of a handover that catch people out
Store Accounts and Signing Keys
Only the current account holder can start a transfer. If the app uses Play App Signing, Google can reset a lost upload key. If not, the app may need a new store listing.
What Runs Outside the Code
Scheduled tasks, API keys, payment notifications and email settings. Services paid on the agency's card stop months later, and nobody sees why.
How a job starts here
List everything first, then recover, document and run
Usually starts with the System review, delivered within a week. Bigger access recovery or clean-up is quoted as a fixed-price Build.
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01
List Every Account, in the First Days
You get the list of accounts and the recovery plan before we change anything.
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02
Recover and Secure
Access moves to you, the code goes into your repository, passwords and keys are changed, and monitoring is switched on.
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03
Read and Document
We read the code, database and logs, and write down what is fragile or has been hacked.
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04
Run It
The system moves onto a monthly Run plan: updates, security fixes, help when things break, and a monthly budget of engineering hours.
Who it is for
The system still works. What went missing is its owner
Takeover & Handover is for businesses whose website, platform or app still works but whose developer or agency has left or gone quiet.
We get back access to the domain, hosting, code and app store accounts, and move them into your name. Then we write down how the system works and run it month to month. We took over BM Mobil's corporate WordPress site this way after a security incident, without a rebuild.
It fits when the system works and earns or saves money, whether it is a website, WooCommerce store, Laravel platform or mobile app. It fits when whoever built it is gone, leaving, or no longer someone you want to rely on. And it fits when you want access and ownership sorted before something breaks, not after.
It is not a fit when the system is broken, half-built or stuck. That is Project Rescue, because the work is finishing it, not keeping it running. If it works but the technology is so old it blocks what the business needs next, that is Legacy Modernization. A takeover is its first step, not the whole job.
A friendly handover from your departing developer is faster and cheaper than recovery. If they will do one properly, take it, and bring us in afterwards.
In production
A system we took over, and the ones we run ourselves
FAQ
Questions people ask after a developer leaves
Any capable team, as long as you can prove the business owns the site. We get access back, write down how the system works and keep it running, without rebuilding it.
Start with the domain, because it controls both the site and your email. The company you registered it with, and your host, can usually give access back if you prove the business owns it.
Ask in writing for exactly what you need. Most providers also have a process for ownership disputes. We are not lawyers, so if the agency says it owns the code, check your contract with a lawyer first.
Usually, yes. Both stores allow transfers between developer accounts. But the current account holder has to start it, so the departing developer's help matters.
