Talk to the studio about your project
The fastest way to reach Ridgefield Services Limited is by email or through the form on this page — the more you tell us up front, the more useful our first reply will be.
What to include in a first message
A toolroom ledger of what the bench needs
Tell us what the software or game has to do, who will use it, and what it needs to connect to. For a business application that usually means the systems it talks to and the people who will run it. For a game it means the platform, the genre and whether you have a prototype.
If you have a timeline or a budget range, include it. Neither is a commitment at this stage, and both change what we suggest. A short description beats a long one with no specifics in it.
Email and written enquiries
The record kept before the bench is lit
Email is the best first channel for most projects, because it gives you a written record and gives us something to research before replying. Send it to [email protected].
Attachments are fine: a spreadsheet that shows the current process, a design document, a link to a demo build. If a detail can be shown rather than described, a screenshot or an export usually saves a round of questions.
We read enquiries properly, which means a reply may take a day or two rather than an hour. If your message needs a quick answer to a single question, say so and we will keep the reply short.
What attachments help
- Process files The spreadsheet or document the work currently runs through.
- Design documents Sketches, wireframes or rules you have already agreed internally.
- Demo builds A playable file, a link, or a short recording of the current version.
Replies usually land within one to two working days.
Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM.
Phone and meetings
Half an hour at the bench
Ask for a call in your first message and we will arrange one. Meetings happen in person around Reading and the Thames Valley, and by video call for clients elsewhere in the UK.
A first call usually runs about half an hour and covers scope, constraints and whether there is a fit. Bring the same details you would put in an email — the call runs faster when the basics are already on the table.
If it becomes clear that we are not the right studio for your project, we will say so on that call and point you at the kind of team that is.
Send an enquiry
Start with what the work needs to do
A short description of the software or game, who will use it, and what it has to connect to is enough to begin.
If you are comparing suppliers
Two questions sort the bench
Ask each one what they would cut from your project and what they would build first. A team that can answer both has probably read your brief. A team that lists features back at you has not.
You are welcome to use our scope document as a comparison point, or to ask us what a competing approach would cost you in maintenance later. We would rather give you a useful answer than a sales pitch.
- What would you build first, and why?
- Whether they have prioritised your work or are quoting a template.
- What would you leave out of the first release?
- Whether they can reduce scope instead of adding cost to it.
- How is maintenance handled after handover?
- Whether the source, the documentation and the update path are yours.
- Who will actually write the code?
- Whether the people scoping the work are the people delivering it.
If you want a second opinion on a quote, or simply want to sanity-check an idea before committing to it, send what you have. Plenty of people contact us just to compare approaches, and that is a reasonable use of the studio's time.
What happens after you get in touch
The crib where answers are put away
You get a reply with questions, or a note saying that we cannot help and why. If the project looks like a fit, the next step is a scoping conversation and, where the work justifies it, a written scope document before any estimate.
There is no obligation attached to any of that. Plenty of people contact us to sanity-check an idea or to compare approaches, and that is a reasonable use of the studio's time.
If you would rather understand how we work before writing to us, the approach page covers how projects are scoped, built and handed over.
Where we are
Mill Place, Woodley, Reading
Woodley is a short distance from Reading town centre and within reach of the M4 corridor, which makes in-person meetings practical for clients across Berkshire, Oxfordshire and west London. For clients further out, we work remotely and have done so for projects across the UK. The address is a real office, not a mailing service, and post reaches us there.
- Address
- Ridgefield Services Limited, 29 Mill Place, Woodley, Reading, England
- [email protected]
- Phone
- +44 118 462 4556
- Working hours
- Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM