About

About Elastic Mint

Elastic Mint is a company founded on the desire for excellence in all areas

The statistics around software projects are stark:

• 66% of software projects end in partial or total failure (Standish Group CHAOS Report 2020)
• 17% of large IT projects go so badly they threaten the very existence of the company (McKinsey 2020)
• 48% of developers blame changing or poorly documented requirements (Statista 2015)
• 49% of projects experience scope creep (Project Management Institute)
• Only 52% of software projects pass the post-release test for quality

Elastic Mint was founded by developers with a vision to apply the lessons of over 20 years of software development to address these problems.

We believe there is no substitute for experienced developers working alongside teams, guiding and mentoring them. This lays the foundation for teams to deliver excellent, reliable software at speed.

Our values

Our values matter to us. We live by them, and our clients see them reflected in the work we do and the way we work. They were the primary reason Elastic Mint was founded — and they are summed up neatly by the Extreme Programming values.

• Transparency. We are open about what we do, communicate good and bad news alike, and always deliver software we are proud of.
• Communication. Smaller, experienced teams communicate better than larger mixed-ability ones — we work alongside clients daily, from requirements through to code.
• Simplicity. Doing just enough and no more. Small steps mean faster feedback, better decisions, and lower cost of change.
• Feedback. Working software ships every iteration. We demonstrate early, gather feedback, and adapt our process to your project rather than the other way around.
• Respect. We respect the expertise of the people we work with — and work with people who respect ours.
• Courage. Telling the truth about progress, estimates, and risk. Sharing responsibility so no one works in isolation.

History

Elastic Mint was founded in 2018 with three principles:

Rapidly deliver excellent software with experienced developers. The pace of technology change and the cost of project failure are stark. Putting highly experienced developers on business-critical work is the simplest way to mitigate risk and improve competitive advantage.

Focus on the most critical business and technological challenges. Most business advantage comes from many small innovations rather than single technological leaps — and that’s where developers experienced in agile delivery pay dividends. We develop in a way that takes inevitable changes to requirements and timescales in its stride.

Work transparently and collaboratively. We hire only experienced UK-based developers and create a culture where they collaborate and continually improve.

How we work

The complexity, scale and importance of the work we do for clients requires developers who understand both business and technology — that’s how we help clients realise greater business value, faster.

We engage and learn first. Every project starts with understanding the problem you’re trying to solve before reaching for solutions.

We deliver incrementally. No big-reveal milestones. Working software ships throughout the engagement so business value lands early, and you can change direction with confidence.

We automate the path to production. Build, test, and deploy automation lets us focus on what matters: features that move the business forward.

We adapt as you learn. Requirements change. Budgets shift. We design for that, not against it.

The team is built to support this approach: experienced UK-based developers who share knowledge generously, are equally comfortable leading large teams or working solo, and are as adept at the business conversation as the technical one.

Leadership team

Andy Garner and Gordon Barrs both have over 20 years of experience as software developers working for companies such as Just Eat, ASOS, Clarks, and Tesco. They founded Elastic Mint with the goal of delivering excellent software that delights users.