About Expanse
Expanse isn’t a software company that decided to enter the church market. It’s a service built by a Catholic web developer, for the communities he’s part of.
Years in faith community web
Sites built and managed
Diocese served
Added bolt-on fees ever
I’ve been a web developer for over fifteen years, and a practising Catholic for all of them. As a parishioner at St Mark’s RC Parish in Ipswich, I’ve sat in the pew, served on rotas, helped with children’s liturgy, and watched our parish try to communicate with its community through a website that wasn’t really working.
The options available to parishes are mostly built by people who’ve never been to a parish council meeting. They don’t understand that Mass times are the most important piece of information on the page, that safeguarding contacts need to be prominent, that the newsletter has to be easy to upload, or that ChurchSuite is the backbone of how most Catholic parishes actually operate.
“I wanted to build something that would feel obvious to a parish secretary — not something that needed a tech volunteer to make sense of.”
Expanse is the result. A managed CMS and website service designed around how parishes actually work, priced honestly with no bolt-ons, and supported by someone who answers his own email.
By day I work as a senior web developer in Ipswich, specialising in custom PHP frameworks, WordPress, WooCommerce, and modern frontend development. I’ve been building websites for churches, charities, religious orders, and faith communities alongside that work for over a decade.
I’m the developer behind websites for Transform Ministries UK, Clare Priory, The Augustinians, and several parish sites across the Diocese of East Anglia — including St Mark’s, where I worship.
I hold my faith and my professional work together without compartmentalising them. When I build a parish website, I’m not just thinking about SEO and page speed — I’m thinking about whether this will actually serve the community it’s meant to serve.
I’m also a husband, a father to a primary school-age child, and someone who understands that parish life is volunteer-led, time-poor, and doesn’t have the budget for expensive agencies or ongoing developer fees. Expanse exists to fix that.
How I Work
Six principles that shape every decision — from pricing to support.
Personal service, always
You’re not raising a ticket with a support team. Ian answers his own email. When you call, you speak to the person who built your site.
Honest, all-in pricing
What’s listed is what you pay. No bolt-ons, no feature gates, no surprises on renewal. Every plan includes everything described — nothing held back.
Built for parish life
Mass times, ChurchSuite, safeguarding, rotas, newsletters — the CMS is designed around how parishes actually work, not how software companies think they work.
We handle the technical
Hosting, SSL, backups, security, domain renewals — all managed. Parishes shouldn’t need a technical volunteer to keep a website running safely.
Catholic understanding
Liturgical calendar awareness, sacramental pages, GDPR-compliant safeguarding — built in by someone who understands why these things matter.
No lock-in
Monthly rolling contract. One month’s notice. Full content export on request. Expanse keeps clients because it’s good, not because leaving is painful.
Our parishes
St Mark’s RC Parish
Ipswich · Diocese of East Anglia
Holy Family, Brantham
Suffolk · Diocese of East Anglia
St Mary Magdalen
Ipswich · Diocese of East Anglia
Clare Priory
Clare, Suffolk · Augustinians
Transform Ministries UK
National · Diocese of East Anglia
The Augustinians
augustinians.co.uk · Religious order
Ready to start?
Whether you have a specific requirement or just want to understand whether Expanse is right for you, Ian is happy to have a no-obligation conversation.