HCOMS · Software studio · Est. 2001

Software for the work the rest of the market overlooks.

Operations platforms for institutions whose work doesn't fit a CRM: dioceses, property portfolios, charities, regulated bodies. UK-built, UK-supported, in production for the long haul.

Founded2001
BasedHethersett · UK
SectorsDiocesan · third sector · tech
SpecialismWeb, databases & software
Trusted by
Diocese of Norwich
Diocese of Ely
Diocese of Chelmsford
Diocese of Lincoln
Diocese of St Albans
Diocese of Blackburn
Diocese of Leeds
Diocese of Carlisle
Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich
Diocese of Leicester
Diocese of Oxford
①What we make

Three platforms we built and still run.

Each one started as a job for a single client and grew into a product. All three are live today, on a flat monthly fee, with a UK team behind them. If the thing you need doesn’t exist yet, the same team will build it for you.

Diocese Management System

The operations layer for the Church of England.

A single platform that replaces the spreadsheets, Access databases and Outlook inboxes that diocesan offices accumulate over decades. It sits on top of the National CMS rather than replacing it.

  • Over 25 operational areas, one mental model
  • Safeguarding · DBS · faculty · finance · net zero
  • Two-way National CMS sync
  • Role-aware permissions out of the box
  • Live UK dioceses · monthly release cadence
  • Hosted on UK Azure · audit-trailed
DMS · LiveLive in production
Over 25 areas
People & Persons
Pipelines & Workflow
Cases & Initiatives
Safeguarding
Conduct & Discipline
Pastoral Schemes
Synod & Governance
Finance
Schools & Education
Mission & MAP
Person 360 · Faculty · Finance · …v6.4
Property Management System

For portfolios that have outgrown the spreadsheet.

Tenancies, repairs, inspections, gas and electrical safety, EPCs and fire risk, all tracked as compliance cycles rather than line items. We built it originally for diocesan housing, and it now runs for other multi-site landlords too.

  • Tenancy lifecycle · void to renewal
  • Compliance calendars · 8 cert cycles tracked
  • Repair workflow with contractor portal
  • Inspection scheduling · mobile-ready
  • Section 21 · arrears · risk register
  • Live in production, growing
Property Management System94%
Diocesan Property Management
House fabric record
Helpdesk & vesting dashboard
Data visualisations entities
Purchase order detail
Parish map
Contractor & house picker
Parish viability score
Workflow detail
Parish share table
Eco Church progression
Calendar
Workflow library
Pipelines library
Net Zero dashboard
RAG project overview
Success metrics
Live sync
ParishGuard · New

Check every parish website without doing it by hand.

ParishGuard checks every parish website in your diocese against Church of England requirements, scores each parish red, amber or green, and writes the policies they are missing, pre-populated with their own details. It also tracks how ready each parish is for the 2031 charity registration deadline.

  • Every parish website audited automatically
  • Safeguarding · privacy · charity number checks
  • Missing policies generated, pre-populated
  • 2031 charity registration readiness tracked
  • Diocesan dashboard · parish portal
  • Free sample audit of ten of your parishes

Also from the studio

Two more platforms and the bespoke practice that built all of them.

Event Jamboree

Run your camp from one place.

Bookings, leaders, safeguarding, kit and day-of QR check-in for camps and large gatherings.

Explore Event Jamboree →
HEDU · coming soon

A school platform students will actually use.

Homework, AI revision, behaviour and attendance in one gamified platform for schools.

Explore HEDU →
Custom App Building

Software that doesn’t exist yet.

A senior team that designs the thing, builds it and then runs it. Usually live in six to eight weeks.

Explore App Building →
Bespoke engagements

System rescue & careful migration.

We take on what is already running, get it stable, and stay with it. No tender required.

Explore Bespoke →
Who we work with

Dioceses, scouts,
start-ups and tech.

Two very different sorts of client, and the same standard of work for both. At one end, organisations with regulatory cycles, statutory reporting and good reason to be wary of rip-and-replace: dioceses, charities, scout districts, housing associations, professional bodies. At the other, start-ups and tech teams who need something shipped quickly and shipped properly. Either way we start with what you have already got running, and we write down what we touch.

More about us →
25+
Years building
web & databases
UK
Long-running
client relationships
TRANSPARENT
Honest monthly pricing.
Never per-feature.
UK
Owned · hosted ·
supported
②How we work

How we run a project.

We run our own platforms in production, so we are working in a stack we know well. Pricing is flat per month rather than per-feature. And we expect to still be on the phone with you in five years, because most of our clients are.

Step · 01

We listen first.

Discovery isn't a workshop with sticky notes. We spend a few weeks sitting alongside the diocesan secretary, the property manager or the finance lead, watching how the work actually gets done.

Step · 02

Something running early.

Six to eight weeks from scope to a live system, and your team working on real data inside the first quarter. We would rather show you something working than a set of slides.

Step · 03

We stay.

Most of our clients have been with us for five years or more. We host the system, patch it, and evolve it from one quarter to the next. There's no separate support team to hand over to, and no re-platforming charge waiting in year three.

Talk to us

If your operations don't
fit a CRM, we should talk.

Whether you've already got a brief or you're at the "we know there's a better way to do this" stage, drop us a line. The first conversation is free and there's no pressure to take it further.