Twenty-three years of UK logistics software, one engineering team.
Team Bison is the engineering services arm of Bison Grid Ltd. Four production SaaS platforms behind us, one global car-carrier shipping operator running all four, and the operational scar tissue that comes from running them every day.
We’re a small senior engineering team that ships software for UK shipping, vehicle logistics and freight operators.
Team Bison is the builder half of the Bison family — the brand inside Bison Grid Ltd that ships paid work for external customers. Twenty-three years of engineering history since 2003, with four production platforms behind us. BisonGrid handles vehicle logistics QC (web SaaS, plus the native Bison App on iOS and Android). Bison Press is our AI marketing automation platform. Bison Exchange runs OEM EDI booking. Bison Insights is the modular operational insights platform — Bison Track is the first deployed module on Bison Insights, with a Claude-powered AI chat agent in production at Siem Car Carriers. The same global car-carrier shipping operator runs all four.
Team Bison is what we do for everyone else: bespoke web, mobile, AI workflows, and the cloud underneath them — all of it informed by twenty-three years of running our own platforms in production.
From a small studio near Southampton to a logistics-tech specialist running four production platforms.
Bison Grid Ltd founded
Started life building cycle-hire software, working with operators across the UK and Europe.
First maritime engagement
Began working with shipping operators on inspection, asset and operations software — the start of the maritime book.
Team Bison launched
Engineering services arm formalised under the Team Bison brand. Same engineers, same operating standards as the production platforms.
Bison Inspect module live in BisonGrid
Vehicle inspection running across major UK and European vehicle logistics operators including Siem Car Carriers (formerly Siem Global Logistics) — shipped as a module inside BisonGrid, not a standalone platform.
Bison Press scales
Managed WordPress platform — hundreds of editorial and operational sites running on a full DevOps wrap.
AI embedded across the stack
Anthropic, OpenAI and Microsoft tooling integrated into our build process and customer deliverables. Operations Audit becomes a productised entry point.
Bison Insights launches at Siem Car Carriers
Modular operational insights platform goes live with Bison Track (the Vessel Tracking Module) as the first deployed module and a Claude-powered AI chat agent in production. Seven-module roadmap published — voyage cost analytics, cargo telemetry, emissions and compliance, port turnaround, RoRo booking, charter yield, crew analytics.
Productised services launched
Team Bison repositions: software, AI and operations for businesses where reliability matters. Three productised service lines — AI Workflows & Agents, Custom Software, Managed Platforms. Tier 1 verticals are Shipping and Logistics operations.
We ship like operators because we are operators.
Four platforms, all live, all paying their own way. Every Team Bison engagement borrows from how these run in production — observability, on-call, release discipline, the lot.
Bison Grid
Vehicle inspection, asset tracking and operations software running across UK and European vehicle logistics operators. The platform that gave Team Bison its OEM and finished-vehicle reference list. Published as the native Bison App on iOS and Android under the Bison Grid publisher account.
Bison Press
Managed WordPress platform with full DevOps wrap — hundreds of editorial and operational sites, on flat monthly retainers from £275/mo. The reason “managed platforms” is a real service line, not a stretch.
Bison Exchange
Integration platform handling EDI, customs and inter-system data flows for UK logistics operators. Where we learned how to make systems that already exist talk to each other reliably.
Bison Insights
Modular operational insights platform for shipping operators. First module — Bison Track, the Vessel Tracking Module — live in production with a Claude-powered AI chat agent. Seven-module roadmap with foundational customer Siem Car Carriers covering voyage cost analytics, cargo telemetry, emissions, port turnaround, RoRo booking, charter yield, and crew analytics.
Senior engineers, named on every engagement.
No account managers between you and the people writing the code. The MD reads every audit; the lead developer reviews every architecture; the PM runs every weekly demo.
Tim Fairchild
Founder of Bison Grid. Twenty-three years building and operating production software since 2003. Wears both the Bison Grid and Team Bison hats — runs joint sales motion across the two brands.
Rich Tunstall
Technical lead across the Bison Grid platforms and Team Bison engagements. Sets the engineering bar — typed code, tests, observability, code review on every change.
Liam North
Runs delivery on Team Bison engagements. Discovery sprints, scope, weekly cadence, the demo. The person who keeps work on a clear, visible track.
Six principles. Same on every engagement.
Operator heritage
We’ve been running production software since 2003. Every engagement borrows the same release discipline, observability and on-call posture as our own platforms — because the engineers building yours are the same ones running ours.
AI-native, not AI-curious
Claude, OpenAI and Microsoft tooling are part of how we build, not an add-on. Audit trails, rollback, evals — come standard. Production at customers, not slideware: a Claude-powered chat agent in production at a global shipping operator.
Secure by default
Cyber Essentials and secure-by-design come standard. Threat models and posture decisions land before the first line of code. Specialist managed security goes to MSSP partners on purpose — one scoping conversation, two specialists.
Plainspoken
We explain the system and skip the jargon theatre. Every audit is a written document you can act on — or take to another supplier. No lock-in, no theatre.
Builder mindset
Outcomes over artefacts; working software over slideware. Discovery sprints produce a written scope, fixed price, and a working prototype where it makes sense — not a 60-slide deck.
Senior on every engagement
A senior UK engineer is named on every Tier 1 vertical engagement (Shipping and Logistics) and stays on it. A specialist offshore team provides 24-hour global support coverage — maintenance, monitoring, post-go-live operations and out-of-hours response. Critical-path build work is UK-only.
UK shipping, vehicle logistics, fleet and freight operators.
Maritime & shipping
Siem Car Carriers (formerly Siem Global Logistics), TOTE Maritime, Wallenius Wilhelmsen partner network. Inspection, asset tracking, claims AI, native iOS + Android driver apps.
Vehicle logistics & FVL
Two operating sides — carriers (move-the-vehicles) and dealer groups / OEMs / rental fleets (buy-sell-manage-stock). OEM EDI, FVL, ePOD, trade-plate. Bison Exchange has 10+ years in production for Siem Car Carriers.
3PL & fleet operators
Mid-market 3PLs and fleet operators. Custom integrations beyond what off-the-shelf TMS or WMS will do.
Customs & freight
Integrations with Descartes, ASM, DataFreight, ClearPort, CNS, MCP and Direct Customs UK. Custom workflows around customs declaration platforms.
The same engineers behind four production platforms.
That’s the offer. If it lines up with what you’re trying to ship, we should talk.