Darren Kandekore

Full-Stack Developer & Digital Marketing Expert

I Don't Just Build Websites.
I Build Businesses.

Most developers hand you a website. I hand you a business tool, built with real functionality, optimised to rank and designed to convert. Backed by 17 years of commercial experience and three businesses I built and run myself.

See What I've Built

Not sure what you need? Tell me what you're trying to fix

✓Google Certified✓Nominet Accredited✓WordPress Plugin Author✓Anna Lebiedziewicz Award✓30,000+ Leads / yr

Client work

What “Building Businesses” Actually Means

Three different clients, three different problems. In each one, understanding the business changed what got built.

Edwards Jewellery

The brief said e-commerce. The conversation revealed a specialist.

Before
A specialist bench jeweller with a presentable Wix site that never really showed her or her skill.
The challenge
Anne asked for an online shop, but her real value was personal: bespoke work, restoration and remodelling sentimental jewellery.
What I built
A site that gives each kind of work its own space in Anne's voice, plus a shop, consultations, a private client area and events.
The thinking
Interviewed Anne, uncovered what made her different, and recommended features like events once I understood how she meets customers.

Listen → Uncover → Position → Recommend → Build

Read the case study

Tony James Designs

Modernising years of successful international e-commerce without throwing away what worked

Before
An established international motorcycle paint-protection store, run for years on WooCommerce and around 30 plugins.
The challenge
The site needed updating, but its products, configurator rules, customers and order history were what the business ran on.
What I built
A bespoke Next.js and Payload platform, migrated with its 287 products, 610 configurator rules, customers and order history intact.
The thinking
Recommended replacing the platform rather than refreshing it, and mapped the old store from its database before rebuilding anything.

Audit → Understand → Preserve → Modernise → Improve

Read the case study

Starstruck

From a dance-school website to the platform the school runs on

Before
An established Solihull dance school paying around £5,000 a year in third-party class-management fees, with a website that undersold it.
The challenge
Reach more families through search, and stop renting software that didn't fit how the school worked.
What I built
A new website plus a bespoke platform for enrolment, term billing, parent and tutor portals, targeted email, a shop and event tickets.
The thinking
Looked past the website at how the school actually operated, and built around its own processes rather than copying the old platform.

Acquire → Enquire → Enrol → Invoice → Teach → Grow

Read the case study
See all case studies

How I work

I Start With the Business Problem

Most projects arrive as a request for a website. I don't assume that is the whole answer until I understand what the business is trying to do.

  1. Understand

    How the business makes money, where time goes, and what is actually getting in the way.

  2. Challenge

    Whether the thing you asked for is the thing you need. Sometimes it is; sometimes it is half of it.

  3. Recommend

    A plain-English plan: what to build, what to keep, what to leave alone, and why.

  4. Build

    I write the software, set up the hosting and connect the services myself.

  5. Grow

    Search, ads, improvements and support afterwards, from the same person who built it.

What I do

One Expert. The Full Picture.

Development, software, AI, hosting, SEO and paid search aren't separate services to me. Knowing all of them means that when you ask for a website, I can look at the commercial problem underneath it. You might need better enquiry capture, customer accounts, an internal dashboard, an integration, a payment flow or AI on one repetitive task, as well as, or instead of, new pages.

Build

When you need something that does not exist yet.

Improve

When it exists but is not bringing in enough.

Automate

When people are doing work software should do.

Operate

When it has to stay fast, secure and online.

The full picture

A Website Is One Layer of the Business

Most of what makes a business work online sits behind the pages, and it all has to be built, kept running and fed with customers.

  1. What customers see

    • Website
    • Online shop
    • Customer portal

  2. What makes the business work

    • Orders
    • Payments
    • Customer accounts
    • CRM
    • APIs
    • Notifications
    • Automation
    • AI

  3. What keeps it running

    • Hosting
    • Servers
    • Security
    • Backups
    • Domains

  4. What brings customers in

    • SEO
    • PPC
    • Lead generation
    • Content

That's why I don't treat a website as an isolated project.

I Practice What I Preach

I Run Technology Businesses Too

I advise businesses while running my own. Finding customers, generating leads, running servers, building software and supporting paying customers are things I deal with every day, and that experience shapes how I approach your project.

30,000+
Leads Generated Annually

Lead Stack

Built and run a lead generation platform serving automotive salvage businesses nationally. Not a client project. My own business, generating measurable commercial results through SEO, automation and custom development.

Lead GenerationSEOCustom DevAutomation
Visit Lead Stack
Nominet
Accredited Partner

Host Dada

Founded and direct a web hosting company that is a Microsoft Channel Partner and an official Nominet Channel Partner making us an accredited domain name registrar, managing Apache servers, security, billing automation and client infrastructure.

Web HostingNominetMicrosoft PartnerServer Management
Visit Host Dada
Published
WordPress Plugin Author

Plugins & Open Source

Custom WordPress plugins published to the WordPress Plugin Library and open-sourced on GitHub. Production-quality code solving real business problems. Not just template customisation, but original functionality built from scratch.

WordPress PluginsPHPGitHubOpen Source
Visit Plugins & Open Source
Live
Consumer Data Platform

Vehicle Data Information

A consumer-facing vehicle data platform delivering valuations, MOT history and full vehicle checks, competing directly with HPI and similar services. Built on the same API powering Lead Stack, it was a natural extension: the infrastructure was already there, I just built the product.

API IntegrationReactVehicle DataConsumer Platform
Visit Vehicle Data Information

My own projects

I Build Software, Not Just Websites

Businesses and products I designed, built and run myself. Open one and try it.

Lead Stack

Live business · Trading

Automating lead generation from enquiry to invoice

The problem
Deliver exclusive, postcode-targeted leads instantly, around the clock, and bill for them without manual work.
The idea
Small automotive businesses paying too much for leads that were manual, slow or shared with competitors.
What I built
A platform that takes leads in from consumer sites and an AI phone line, matches each to one buyer by postcode, delivers it by email, SMS and the agents' portal, and runs credit-based billing through Stripe.

Capture → Verify → Match → Deliver → Bill

Try it (opens in a new tab)How it works

Host Dada

Live business · Trading

A hosting storefront built in front of the industry-standard back office

The problem
Make the shop fast, findable and accurate without replacing the billing system that runs the business.
The idea
A stock hosting storefront that search engines barely saw, with domain checks that gave wrong answers for newer extensions.
What I built
A server-rendered Next.js storefront with hybrid WHMCS/eNom domain search, 409 domain pages, a cart handed to a custom WHMCS add-on, single sign-on, first-party analytics and an AI phone receptionist.

Keep the back office → Build the storefront → Fix domain search → Hand orders back

Try it (opens in a new tab)How it works

Web Brief AI

Live product · Free tier · Plans from £19.99/mo

Turning a client's vague website ideas into a developer-ready brief

The problem
Website projects stall because clients don't know what information to give, so briefs arrive vague and scope creeps.
The idea
Guide the client through every decision, with AI asking follow-up questions, filling gaps and drafting content, so the brief is complete before the build starts.
What I built
A SaaS with AI discovery, site scraping, page structure and content generation, competitor and local-SEO analysis, and feature interviews, exporting a PDF brief and structured JSON.

Discover → Structure → Write → Specify → Export

Try it (opens in a new tab)How it works

One-Time Secret

Live product · Free to use

Passwords and files sent as a link that works once

The problem
Passwords sent by email or chat stay there forever.
The idea
Send the secret as a link instead: encrypted, destroyed the moment it's read, with a receipt for the sender.
What I built
Text and file sharing with a key that exists only in the link, a single-use reveal, expiry, emailed links and a dashboard of what has been opened.

Write → Link → Open once → Destroyed → Receipt

Try it (opens in a new tab)How it works

QR Code Creator

Live product · Plans from £4.99/mo

QR codes you can change after they're printed

The problem
A printed QR code is fixed, and many free-trial QR sites charge heavily later or let codes stop working.
The idea
Dynamic, branded codes that can be re-pointed anytime and keep working while you're subscribed, at a plain price with every feature on every plan.
What I built
Editable redirects, logos and brand colours, PNG and SVG downloads, scan analytics, Stripe subscriptions and an admin console.

Create → Brand → Print → Re-point → Measure

Try it (opens in a new tab)How it works

Gym Timer

Live product · Free to use

A gym clock you can read from across the room

The problem
Timed rounds only work if the whole room can see the clock, hear the cues and trust it to keep time.
The idea
A free web app that turns any phone, tablet or screen into a gym timer: pick a preset, press start, follow the colours and bells.
What I built
Warm-up, work, rest and finisher phases, saved presets, bells and voice cues, fullscreen and keep-awake, as a static app with no server and no tracking.

Preset → Start → Colours & bells → Summary

Try it (opens in a new tab)How it works
See all case studies

The Credentials Behind It

17 Years Across Code, Servers and Search

The qualifications and hands-on experience that sit under the work above. Useful to know, but the projects are the proof.

Full-Stack Developer & WordPress Expert

I have 17 years of experience building dynamic, robust websites and custom applications. I design and publish WordPress plugins, develop bespoke themes and WooCommerce solutions and write clean, functional code across the full stack. Not just pages, but real business tools.

Custom PluginsBespoke ThemesWooCommerceReactPHP

Server & Domain Expert

As Director of Host Dada, a Nominet accredited partner and Microsoft Channel Partner, I manage Apache servers, implement security hardening, configure Plesk, WHM and cPanel environments and automate hosting infrastructure. I can host what I build, end to end.

ApachecPanel / WHMPleskWHMCSNominetMS365

Certified Google Partner & SEO Veteran

Google-certified for Display and Search Ads, and an SEO practitioner with 17 years of hands-on experience. My Lead Stack platform generates over 30,000 leads annually, proof that I don't just optimise websites, I build systems that rank and convert at scale.

Google AdsSEOPPCAnalyticsSEMrushAhrefs
Darren Kandekore, Full-Stack Developer
17+Years Experience
30k+Leads / Year
3Businesses Built
A+Bootcamp Grade

About Me

A Rare Bridge Between Business & Technology

My career began in sales, giving me a commercial edge that most developers simply don't have. Over 17 years ago I transitioned into web development, founding and growing a digital agency to six members of staff before refocusing as a specialist freelancer.

Today I operate Host Dada, a Nominet-accredited hosting provider and Microsoft Channel Partner where I manage servers, domains, and infrastructure end to end. I run Lead Stack, generating 30,000+ leads annually for automotive salvage businesses, and Vehicle Data Information, a live consumer platform delivering vehicle valuations, MOT history and HPI-style checks, built on the same API infrastructure as Lead Stack.

Three businesses. Built, hosted, and grown using the exact same skills I bring to every client.

Full Profile

Client Feedback

What Clients Say

Real feedback from businesses I've built, hosted, and grown over the years.

I can thoroughly recommend Darren Kandekore. After having big problems with my hosting company I needed help quickly to keep my two businesses running efficiently. Darren understood the problem right away and within a couple of days my two websites and business emails found a new, reliable home.

Liubov Short

LMS Accountancy Services

Darren really took the time to understand my wants, needs and expectations and delivered exactly what was on the brief. He's been there when I wanted changes or when I'd messed up on certain things. Overall his work is the best I've had. Top quality work as always, keep it up!

Adam Bradshaw

Beeline VIP Coaches

We have used Darren Kandekore to create two websites for our business. He is very professional, and his work is always to a high standard. If we ever have any problems, he is easy to get hold of and will quickly resolve the issue to ensure our website is up and running. We would definitely recommend Darren!

Charlotte Robinson

VG Charles

Darren really knows his stuff, top quality but keeps the explanations simple for me. The best thing is he's really responsive so you can have total confidence in his work. Anytime I've done something by mistake to my website he gets me out of trouble and back to business straight away. Can't thank him enough.

David Heath

Positive Print

Start a conversation

Tell Me What You're Trying to Achieve

You don't need to know whether the answer is a website, software, AI or marketing. Tell me what you want to improve and I'll tell you honestly what I'd do.

What are you trying to improve?

Every enquiry is read and answered by me personally.

Tech Blog

Thoughts & News

My random thoughts, a bit of news and some analysis of current trends.

All Posts