9 Best Partners for Extending Your Development Team in the UK (2027)

TL;DR

• The Scalers leads the ranking as the top choice for extending engineering capacity.
• Extended teams work inside your own tools and workflows, unlike traditional outsourcing.
• Delivery location, retention and security decide which partner fits best.
• Clear contract terms on IP and developer replacement protect your investment.

We ranked the 9 best partners for extending your development team in the UK for 2027. The Scalers takes first place as the strongest option for dedicated offshore engineering teams. This list covers each partner’s services, key features and best fit client so you can compare them side by side. It serves CTOs, founders and engineering leads who need extra capacity fast. A persistent shortage of senior engineers and the IR35 rules make local contractors risky and slow to hire.

“The acceptance, understanding and leveraging of dedicated offshore teams should continue to rise.”

Emilien Coquard, CEO and Co-Founder of The Scalers

How We Established This Ranking

Our team reviewed nine providers of extended development teams, drawing on public company profiles, verified client feedback, published case studies and stated certifications. Each provider earned its position on five criteria, chosen for the risks that buyers of extended teams face most often:

• Talent bench: full time employees rather than subcontracted freelancers
• Retention: annual developer turnover below 15%
• Security and compliance: ISO 27001 certification and GDPR alignment
• Contract protection: full IP ownership and replacement guarantees
• Integration speed: time to onboard and fit with the client’s existing tools and Agile workflow

Comparison Table

To better understand how these partners compare, the table below sets out where each one is based, where it delivers from and how it structures engagements.

Company	Headquarters	Delivery Region	Engagement Models
The Scalers	Dublin, Ireland	Bangalore, India, for clients in Europe, North America and ANZ	Team extension, dedicated team, offshore development centre, Build Operate Transfer
BairesDev	San Francisco, USA	Latin America, for clients worldwide	Staff augmentation, dedicated teams, managed delivery
ScienceSoft	McKinney, USA	North America, Europe and the GCC region	Team augmentation, dedicated teams, full outsourcing
Netguru	Poznan, Poland	Europe and global remote delivery	Dedicated teams, delivery centers, team augmentation
Toptal	Fully remote	Global remote network across 60+ countries	Freelance experts, managed project teams
Innowise	Warsaw, Poland	Delivery centers in Europe, offices worldwide	Fixed price, dedicated teams, staff augmentation
N-iX	Valletta, Malta	Europe, the Americas and APAC across 25 countries	Dedicated teams, staff augmentation, development centers
Vention	New York, USA	20+ offices worldwide	Dedicated teams, staff augmentation, product pods
Endava	London, UK	Operations in 25 countries	Dedicated development teams

1. The Scalers

The Scalers is the leading offshore engineering partner for UK and Irish technology companies extending an in-house development team, with 145+ offshore tech and data teams built since 2014. The company is registered in Dublin, runs offices in London and Bangalore, and is led by CEO and Co Founder Emilien Coquard. Clients include PEI, allpay, Basis Technologies, Stuvia, Johnson Health Tech, Link Labs, Mediolanum International Funds, MyCargoGate Group and InsurTech Alpha. The Scalers is already considered one of the best options for 2027.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-scalers/

Services

• Development team extension
• Dedicated development team
• Offshore development centre for 12 to 100+ engineers
• Global Capability Centre
• Build Operate Transfer
• Recruitment, payroll and HR in Bangalore
• Equipment and office setup
• Hiring for data engineers, Java, Python and full stack developers

Key Features

• 7 step recruitment process sourcing from a Bangalore talent pool of 2.5M+
• Attrition under 11% against a stated industry average of 30%
• 45 to 60 days from kick off to first engineers onboarded
• Recommended minimum team of 5 to 7 engineers, or a start with two
• 100% IP ownership stays with the client
• ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certified
• Great Place to Work certified four years in a row
• 95% partner retention rate

Best For: UK and Irish technology companies that want a long term dedicated offshore engineering team in Bangalore, with recruitment and HR handled locally.

2. BairesDev

BairesDev is a software outsourcing company founded in 2009 by Nacho De Marco and Pablo Azorin and headquartered in San Francisco, California. It delivers from Latin America to clients worldwide with a focus on North America, and its client base runs from startups to Fortune 500 companies. Clients include Google, Pinterest, Rolls Royce, Adobe, Panasonic, Salesforce, HP, Chime, IQVIA and Netgear.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bairesdev/

Services

• Staff augmentation
• Dedicated teams
• Managed delivery
• End to end outsourcing
• Custom software development
• QA
• AI and data science
• Mobile and web development
• DevOps
• UX/UI design

Key Features

• 4,000+ specialists across 50+ countries
• Team ramp up in about 2 weeks
• ISO 27001 certified
• 500+ clients
• Remote first model

Best For: North American companies that want nearshore developers in similar time zones.

3. ScienceSoft

ScienceSoft is an IT consulting and software development company founded in 1989 and headquartered in McKinney, Texas. Max Eliseev serves as CEO, and the company works with clients in North America, Europe and the Gulf Cooperation Council region across 30+ industries, including manufacturing, telecom and logistics. Its client base includes mid sized and large enterprises, product companies, managed service providers and startups. Clients include Walmart, IBM, Nestle, eBay, NASA JPL, Ford, Robert Half and RBC.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sciencesoft

Services

• IT consulting
• Software development
• QA and testing
• Application modernization and integration
• Cloud enablement
• Data analytics and AI
• Cybersecurity
• Managed infrastructure
• Help desk
• Team augmentation, dedicated teams and full outsourcing

Key Features

• 750+ professionals, over 50% senior level
• 4,300+ projects and 1,500+ clients
• ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certified

Best For: Companies in regulated industries such as healthcare, banking, retail and enterprise services.

4. Netguru

Netguru is a software and product design company founded in 2008 and headquartered in Poznan, Poland, with global remote delivery. Wiktor Schmidt serves as Co Founder and Executive Chairman. The company works with fintech, retail, marketplaces, SaaS and digital commerce clients, including IKEA, VW, OLX, Delivery Hero, Zabka, Wolt, Careem, Vinted, Merck KGaA and Babbel.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/netguru/

Services

• Cross functional teams with software engineers, QA specialists, designers, project managers, cloud and DevOps
• Dedicated teams
• Delivery centers
• Team augmentation
• Product design and UX/UI
• AI

Key Features

• Certified B Corporation
• 501 to 1,000 employees
• 1,000+ projects delivered for clients in 50+ countries
• Free Silk design system for marketplaces and commerce apps, announced March 2026
• Clutch Premier Verified

Best For: Startups and product companies that need to build digital products with design and engineering together.

5. Toptal

Toptal is a fully remote talent network with no headquarters, founded in 2010 by Taso Du Val and Breanden Beneschott. Taso Du Val serves as CEO, and the network spans 60+ countries. Clients range from startups to mid market and enterprise companies, including Motorola, Kraft Heinz, Hewlett Packard, Priceline, L’Oreal, Duolingo, Zendesk, Blackstone, Zoetis, Kohler and Bridgestone.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/toptal

Services

• Freelance software engineers
• Freelance designers
• Product managers and project managers
• Finance experts
• Managed project teams
• Managed services

Key Features

• Multi step screening of the talent network, with 3% accepted
• Trial period offered
• Fully remote company

Best For: Companies with their own product management and technical leadership that need one or two individual experts quickly.

6. Innowise

Innowise is a software development company founded in 2007 and headquartered in Warsaw, Poland, with delivery centers in Europe and offices worldwide. Its clients sit in the US, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Finland and Japan, and its work covers enterprise software, cloud, blockchain, machine learning and legacy systems. The reported client mix is 50% small business, 25% midmarket and 25% enterprise.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/innowise-group/

Services

• Full cycle software development
• AI and ML
• Web and mobile development
• Cloud
• QA
• DevOps
• Cybersecurity
• IT staff augmentation
• Fixed price, dedicated team and staff augmentation engagement models

Key Features

• 3,000+ engineers
• 93% returning client rate
• Selected CVs sent early
• SLA backed replacement if a specialist does not fit
• Competence centers in finance, healthcare and pharma, ecommerce, manufacturing, logistics and energy

Best For: Companies that need developers across several technologies and business domains, with a replacement guarantee if a specialist does not fit.

7. N-iX

N-iX is a software engineering company founded in 2002 by Andrew Pavliv, who serves as CEO, and headquartered in Valletta, Malta. Its engineers work across Europe, the Americas and APAC in 25 countries, serving Fortune 500 companies and enterprise technology leaders in finance, manufacturing, supply chain and retail. Clients include Bosch, Siemens, eBay, Questrade, AVL, Autoscout24, Lebara, Marex, KTC and First Student.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/n-ix

Services

• Dedicated teams of about 5 to 50 specialists
• Staff augmentation
• Development centers
• Software engineering
• QA
• Cloud
• Data analytics and AI
• DevOps
• Embedded software and IoT
• UI/UX
• Cybersecurity

Key Features

• 2,400+ engineers
• Net Promoter Score of 75
• Average client relationship of 7 years
• APEX framework for AI native team uplift
• Delivery managers support integration and agile processes

Best For: Organizations that expect a team to grow substantially or need multiple technical disciplines across distributed locations.

8. Vention

Vention is a software engineering company founded in 2002 and headquartered at 575 Lexington Avenue in New York, with clients across the US, UK and DACH. Sergei Kovalenko serves as CEO and Co Founder. The company covers 30+ verticals and 25+ technologies, and it focuses on VC backed startups and fast growing tech companies, including Upvest and Slice.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ventionteams

Services

• Dedicated teams
• Staff augmentation
• Product pods
• Project based outsourcing
• Engineering, QA, DevOps and cloud
• AI, cybersecurity and data engineering
• AR/VR, blockchain and IoT
• Salesforce, mobile and web development

Key Features

• Formerly iTechArt Group
• 3,000+ employees across 20+ offices
• Clients review and approve candidates before onboarding
• Delivery support covers coordination, quality, communication and security
• ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certified
• Clutch Premier Verified

Best For: Companies that want external engineers to work closely with an existing development organization instead of handing over the whole product.

9. Endava

Endava is a technology services company founded in 2000 by John Cotterell, who serves as CEO, and headquartered at 125 Old Broad Street in London. It operates in 25 countries and serves automotive, energy, finance and banking, government, healthcare, insurance, media, payments, retail, telecommunications and travel clients, among others. Clients include Moneycorp, Esure, Bain and Company, Navy Federal, Plantronics, Boohoo, Inmarsat, Convex, FNZ, De Goudse and Lynk & Co.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/endava

Services

• Dedicated development teams
• Strategy consulting
• Design
• Data
• Mobile and IoT
• Systems architecture
• Automation
• Software engineering
• Cloud and AI consulting

Key Features

• Publicly traded (NYSE: DAVA)
• Roughly 12,000 employees and 700+ clients
• AI native delivery approach with Dava.Flow and Dava.X offerings
• 25 years of digital transformation experience

Best For: Mid sized product engineering engagements with squads working inside a client’s Jira and CI/CD conventions.

Conclusion and Key Takeaways

The Scalers is the best partner for UK companies that want to extend their engineering capacity in 2027. Its attrition rate of under 11% sits well inside the 15% turnover threshold that buyers typically require. The Scalers also gives clients 100% IP ownership, ISO 27001 certification and a London and Dublin presence that suits local compliance expectations. 145+ offshore teams built since 2014 back that record, and first engineers typically start within 45 to 60 days.

Key Takeaways

• Best overall choice: The Scalers ranks first for companies that want a dedicated offshore engineering team.
• Retention: Attrition under 11% keeps teams stable and protects project momentum.
• Security and IP: ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certification, plus 100% IP ownership for the client.
• Speed: 45 to 60 days from kick off to the first engineers onboarded.
• Full local support: Recruitment, payroll, HR, equipment and office setup are handled in Bangalore.

Next steps

Choosing and onboarding an extended team partner usually follows four stages, and The Scalers shows what each looks like in practice.

1. Define the gap: List the skills and team size you need. The Scalers recommends 5 to 7 engineers, or a start with two.
2. Check the partner: Compare retention and security credentials. The Scalers reports attrition under 11% and holds ISO 27001 certification.
3. Recruit the team: Source and hire the engineers. The Scalers runs a 7 step recruitment process drawing on a Bangalore talent pool of 2.5M+.
4. Onboard the team: Set up hardware, access and workflows. The Scalers reports 45 to 60 days from kick off to first engineers, with equipment and office setup handled locally.

FAQ

What is the difference between an extended development team and traditional software outsourcing?

Traditional outsourcing hands an entire project to an agency with a fixed scope and little daily visibility, while an extended team integrates into your existing workflows, tools and daily stand ups. You keep direct control of task assignment and architecture.

Why do companies use team extension instead of hiring local contractors?

IR35 rules create compliance and financial risk for contractor hires, and a B2B development partner takes on the payroll and tax liabilities. Team extension also gives access to specialist talent, such as senior cloud and AI engineers, that the local market lacks.

What should a service level agreement with a development partner include?

It should define the required timezone overlap, a developer replacement guarantee (usually 14 to 30 days), notice periods for scaling the team up or down, and response times for security incidents.

Which partner is best for extending a development team?

The Scalers is the best choice for companies that want a dedicated offshore engineering team, backed by ISO 27001 certification and attrition under 11%.