Hold the mace. I'm sweet enough.

Friday. May 09, 2025 - 2 mins

💎 This is a gem of an opportunity.

So much so it couldn’t be passed up.

This week I’ve joined the developer team at Sapphire Holidays. It’s Cornwall’s best kept dev secret, and chances are you’ve not heard of us. So what do we do??

Last year, the team helped to create happy memories for almost 50,000 families, couples, and solo travellers across Britain. Whilst the dev team hide their light under a bushel, the companies they power are probably more familiar names. Particularly if you’re in Cornwall and the South West.

Maintaining the software underpinning Boutique Retreats, Aspects Holidays, Classic Cottages, plus a handful of other brands is a 9 on the Mohs scale of task hardnessgit push –force. There’s a mix of codebases, ranging from 20 days old to 20 plus years, representing multiple generations of the broad Microsoft tech stack. It’s a lot to keep running and growing.

But that’s the fun bit.

🧑‍🍳 If variety is the spice of life, then the range of projects here offers an abundance of flavor to cook up some software with. HTML, CSS, and JavaScript mix with Blazor and ASP to provide the mirepoix for our tasty tech sauce. Add in a dash of chilli via a hashtag#dotnetMAUI project or two for a little heat. SQL server brings the mixed herb vibes. . . foundational but not really that fun. And when the palette demands, a sprinkle of Visual Basic can add in the sweetness of mace.

OK.

That last one is stretching the metaphor a bit far. Visual Basic is far from sweet, but that code’s been running for half my life which is very sweet!

With a significant bump in holiday numbers inevitable in the years ahead, it’s an exciting time for the team and the perfect moment to introduce a little bit of Tony into the recipe. With 3 apps to maintain and grow in the years ahead, and a whole bunch to learn about the tech we use, I think I’m the most excited in the office.

Although the might be because it’s pasty Friday 🎉

Steak for me. Hot and peppery preferably.

Hold the Mace. I’m sweet enough 🤣

Originally featured on LinkedIn.