The flight log.

Positive Signs, one of the largest deaf services companies in the UK, needed something no off-the-shelf product could deliver: a way for deaf users to reach a qualified British Sign Language interpreter the moment they need one. Not a video app with translation bolted on — an entirely bespoke service, engineered from scratch around the deaf community.

ClickBSL is the result. A wholly customised video-calling system connects users to online interpreters immediately, with a call-out service that bridges conversations to landlines, in-call document sharing, and even desktop technical assistance — so the platform doesn't just translate, it removes barriers end to end. Mission Control built the full fleet of mobile apps across iOS, Android, and Amazon FireOS.

Behind the calls sits an operation we built just as carefully: a complete booking, scheduling, and admin facility for the interpreters themselves, keeping the right translator available at the right moment. This is one of the most ambitious missions we've ever flown — and it's in active flight right now. See it live at clickbsl.com.

Smart_R needed an app GCSE students would actually come back to — not another worthy-but-ignored revision tool. We opened the mission with four key workshops alongside the Smart_R team, mapping the habits and mindset of teenage learners before a single screen was designed. The brief that emerged: take the most addictive mechanics of gaming and point them at studying.

The result delivers bite-sized micro-lessons, adaptive learning journeys, and real-time progress tracking — wired to dynamic leaderboards, friend challenges, and a live alert system, because there's no greater motivator than competing with a buddy. Built in Flutter from a single codebase so iOS and Android shipped together, in time for GCSE study season.

We also built a full web-based admin system, so the Smart_R team adds new quizzes, subjects, and features themselves — no external development support required. In many ways the most complex mobile application we've flown to date, and it's live on both stores now.

Mars Petcare needed an entirely new product, built from zero: a mobile app to help owners find lost pets anywhere in the world, powered by a machine-learning system that could match photos of dogs the way facial recognition matches people. No off-the-shelf model existed. So we built one.

The forPAWS platform runs on a fully custom, proprietary neural network designed by Mission Control — reading up to 17 facial markers per photo, identifying over 130 breeds, and using adaptive colour recognition so even low-light and off-centre photos process cleanly. Match accuracy: over 96%. Our design team pioneered the branding end to end, and the iOS and Android apps were built in Flutter.

From kickoff to a working live version — design, app development, and AI modelling included — took twelve weeks. Thousands of owners signed up during the limited test in just two territories, and the programme became the catalyst for an entirely new division inside Mars Petcare. We continue to collaborate on new missions spanning AI, apps, and AR/VR.

One of the NHS' agencies of record approached us to build a programme of condition-support apps on a unified foundation. The NHS Condition App Programme was born: up-to-the-minute health guidance, tools, and advice for people living with conditions including HIV, diabetes, neonatal care, obesity, and pregnancy.

Self-management is a mission profile we take seriously. When an app is helping someone manage a medical condition or recovery, it has to be highly usable, genuinely engaging, and a place people willingly return to — often. Every app in the programme carries videos, activities, challenges, and progress tracking designed around that principle.

Underneath it all sits our content management system with a fully bespoke interface, letting NHS editors across the UK publish everything from tips to complex exercise and lifestyle programmes through one web interface. The result: over eight condition apps running on iOS, Android, and web, with the programme continuing through Mum & Baby and the Anthony Nolan Trust.

Reporting retail crime has traditionally meant hours of paperwork, follow-up calls, and uncertainty about whether anything would come of it — so much friction that many incidents simply went unreported. RACK partnered with us to fix the whole pipeline.

The Retail Action Crime Kit lets staff report incidents in minutes instead of hours, capturing critical details in real time, at the moment they happen. Reports connect directly into law-enforcement systems, and the analytics layer tracks patterns and hotspots so retailers can prevent crime rather than just record it — all through an interface designed for busy shop floors.

The development process involved extensive consultation with retail staff, security professionals, and police to make sure the system fits seamlessly into existing ecosystems. Since launch it's been adopted by retailers of all sizes, and the solution took home a key industry innovation award. When reporting becomes this simple, more incidents get documented, better data gets collected, and more crime gets prevented.

Bikeaway's Diamond-accredited cycle lockers are the most secure in the UK — and their newest locking system needed a booking experience to match. The brief: let a cyclist book a locker, store their bike, and unlock it again with no key, no phone call, and no annoying QR code.

Bike Hubs is the answer: a complete self-management and booking system, in-app or via web, with NFC-enabled unlocking and a set of smart alerts that remind users when a session is ending and prompt them to extend. The clever part — the lockers themselves need no WiFi or mobile connection; the user's app carries the unlock codes for their booked times.

From the cross-platform Flutter app to the web booking engine to a full admin interface for Bikeaway staff, the system now sets the standard for cycle locker rental across rail stations and public venues throughout the UK, with a roadmap of enhancements still rolling out.

Our engagement with Oxford University Press began in the summer of 2015 with a prototype: two African-language dictionary microsites, isiZulu and Northern Sotho, running on a fully customised version of our Remarkable content management system — complete with custom modules from Word of the Day panels to entry pages, ad templates, and experiments.

Two microsites grew to over 15 language sites, including the massive, high-traffic English and Spanish dictionaries, fully hosted and managed by Mission Control from 2016 to 2021. All custom web pages were developed in Ruby on Rails, tied directly to the CMS, alongside a bespoke integration (LEAPER) into OUP's LEAP lexical data system — designed in step with LEAP itself, giving us rare insight into the demands of lexical data at scale.

At peak, the ODO/OGL suite of sites carried more than 20,000 requests per minute from around the globe — bespoke development, hosting, and infrastructure management, all flown by one team.

Global advertising powerhouse Mediacom calls us in when their key clients need to stay a step ahead of the technology curve — apps for loyalty, upsell, impulse shopping, and grocery commerce, delivered as prototypes, MVPs, and live deployments.

The flagship mission: Walmart Scan & Go. Online grocery had quietly killed the impulse purchase, so — sponsored in part by Mars/Wrigley — we built a unified app experience that tempts shoppers with add-ons like chocolates, snacks, and soft drinks at the moment of collection. The prototype was a massive success, and Walmart adopted the Mission Control functionality into its main app across many U.S. territories.

Further programmes followed, including a Scan & Go app for Carrefour in France and Poland and a series of eCommerce, fast-checkout, and loyalty features. We remain Mediacom's Flutter and app development partner for their key clients' next prototypes.

Launched in June 2019, Lexico.com put our Remarkable content management and workflow system at the heart of one of the web's best-known dictionary brands — fully customised for the unique demands of lexical data and the data pipeline running between Oxford University Press and Dictionary.com.

Every page of Lexico.com was developed by Mission Control in Ruby on Rails: a showcase of tightly integrated front- and back-end engineering with regular, large-scale data updates flowing through the system. Signature modules including Trending Words and Word of the Day kept the experience fresh on top of industry-leading lexical content.

Continuing the tradition of the OUP English and Spanish sites, Lexico was fully hosted, supported, and managed by the Mission Control team on an ongoing basis — proof that we don't just launch platforms, we keep them in orbit.