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.
Not sure what you need? Tell me what you're trying to fix
Case studies
Recent Projects
In a Pickle
Turning a founder's idea into a working breakdown marketplace
In a Pickle Breakdown set out to offer pay-as-you-need breakdown help: no membership, the price shown up front, and a vetted local operator you can watch arrive. I turned the founder's idea into an operating model and built the platform behind it: a three-sided marketplace with location-based matching, live GPS tracking, payments held until the job is settled, automatic supplier payouts, and document-based vetting that keeps every operator compliant.
Read the case study
Edwards Jewellery
The brief said e-commerce. The conversation revealed a specialist.
Anne asked for an e-commerce website to replace a perfectly presentable Wix site. Conversations with her uncovered a much stronger proposition: a specialist bench jeweller who works personally with clients to create, restore and transform jewellery, including the inherited pieces people no longer wear. The project became discovery, positioning and content strategy as much as development, and the platform grew to support how the business actually works, from events and wedding fairs to consultations and a private client area.
Starstruck
From a dance-school website to the platform the school runs on
What began as a new website for Starstruck Performing Arts became a closer look at how the school runs online. The result is a bespoke platform that takes a family from first enquiry to the class register: local search, enrolment, term billing, parent and tutor portals, targeted communications, a shop and event tickets, all on infrastructure Starstruck owns. Bringing class management and payments in-house removed around £5,000 a year in platform charges.
Tony James Designs
Modernising years of successful international e-commerce without throwing away what worked
Tony James Designs had run its international motorcycle paint-protection store on WooCommerce for years, and it worked. Asked to update the website, I recommended something different: keep the business exactly as it operates, and replace the platform underneath it. The old store was mapped in detail first, including a configurator driven by 610 conditional elements, then rebuilt as a bespoke Next.js and Payload application. Products, customers and order history came across intact, followed by practical improvements: better search, launch-interest capture, built-in shipment tracking and a partner directory.
Plate Studio
Bringing a complicated, compliance-heavy purchase online
Plate Studio needed to bring a complicated, compliance-heavy purchase online without sacrificing either the customer experience or the security of sensitive customer information. I designed and built one platform that does both: a live plate builder that shows customers exactly what they are buying, connected to a secure document and verification workflow that lets the business legally fulfil every order.
Full-stack, end to end
Why You Need a Full-Stack Developer,
Not a “Web Designer”
A website is only the layer your customers see. Behind it sits the system that runs the business, the servers that keep it online and the marketing that brings people in. I build and run all four.
Front end
What customers see
- Websites
- Online shops
- Customer portals
- Booking flows
React, Next.js, WordPress and WooCommerce, including WordPress plugins I build and publish.
Web designer✓Me✓Back end
What makes the business work
- Orders & payments
- Customer accounts
- APIs & integrations
- Automation & AI
Node.js and PHP on MongoDB, MySQL and PostgreSQL, with Stripe, Twilio and AI models wired in.
Web designer–Me✓Servers
What keeps it running
- Hosting
- Security
- Backups
- Domains & email
Director of Host Dada, my own UK hosting company. I run the servers my clients’ sites live on.
Web designer–Me✓Marketing
What brings customers in
- SEO
- Google Ads
- Lead generation
- Content
Google Partner with 17 years of SEO and paid search, and the founder of Lead Stack, a lead-generation business.
Web designer–Me✓
One person across every layer, so nothing falls between the gaps.
How I workI 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
My own businesses & products
I Build Software, Not Just Websites
Host DadaLive business · Trading
A hosting storefront built in front of the industry-standard back office
Host Dada is my own hosting and domains business for small UK companies. I kept WHMCS for billing and fulfilment and built everything customers see in front of it: accurate domain search across hundreds of extensions, 409 search-friendly domain pages, a cart that hands orders back to WHMCS, single sign-on, first-party analytics and an AI phone receptionist.
Read the case study
Lead Stack
Automating lead generation from enquiry to invoice
Lead Stack is my own business: it takes enquiries from motorists who want to scrap or sell a car, matches each one to a single buyer who covers that postcode, and delivers it within moments by email, text and an agents' portal. Buyers pay with prepaid credits. I built the whole platform, from intake and matching to billing, the admin and an AI phone receptionist, and moved it off WordPress onto its own infrastructure.
Vehicle Data Information (VDI): Real-Time Vehicle Intelligence Platform
Competing with established vehicle-check brands
Vehicle Data Information (VDI) is a high-performance vehicle intelligence platform I founded and engineered to compete directly with industry incumbents like HPI. The platform provides instant, data-driven insights into vehicle history, MOT records, and live market valuations. By architecting an API-first system that aggregates data from authoritative sources like the DVLA, I built a tool that delivers the same mission-critical data as major competitors but with a modern, React-powered user experience and a more transparent pricing model.
txt2spk
From reading my own terminal to a public listening tool
It started because I was struggling to read long AI responses in my own terminal, so I built a private tool to read them aloud. txt2spk is that idea engineered into a separate public product: text, documents and web pages turned into speech, with documents processed on your device, accounts, Stripe subscriptions and a full test suite. Designed, built and run by me.
Web Brief AI
Turning a client's vague website ideas into a developer-ready brief
A SaaS platform built to solve one of the most persistent frustrations in web development: getting a proper brief out of a client. Built originally for my own agency workflow, Web Brief AI uses artificial intelligence to guide clients through every decision — and delivers a developer-ready document in minutes, not weeks.
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.
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.
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.
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 ProfileClient 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.
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!
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!
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.
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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.
Tech Blog
Thoughts & News
My random thoughts, a bit of news and some analysis of current trends.