Working with an India-based development team from the United Kingdom

It is the easiest of the long-distance arrangements. India Standard Time is 5 hours 30 minutes ahead of GMT in the winter and 4 hours 30 minutes ahead of British Summer Time, because India does not change its clocks. A UK morning overlaps with an Indian afternoon, so a 10:00 am call in London is 2:30 pm in Kakinada in summer and 3:30 pm in winter.

That overlap is long enough for a daily check-in if you want one, though most projects run well on a weekly demo plus written updates. We set the rhythm in the first week; our answer on working across time zones explains the trade-offs.

For the delivery process itself, which is the same for a London client as for one in Hyderabad, see how we work with clients across India.

If your Indian developer can see or store personal data you hold, such as customer records in a CRM they are building or form submissions on a site they host, that counts as a restricted transfer from the UK. India is not covered by UK adequacy regulations, so the transfer needs an approved safeguard. In practice that is the ICO's International Data Transfer Agreement, or the EU standard contractual clauses with the UK Addendum, plus your own assessment of the risk.

The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 changed the test the government uses for new adequacy decisions to whether protection abroad is not materially lower than in the UK, and it added a similar test for exporters relying on contracts. It did not create an adequacy decision for India. Your developer should also sign a data processing agreement that says what they may do with the data. The simplest protection is to keep real customer data out of development entirely: build against test data, and give production access only where the work needs it. We ask how your data will be handled at scoping, not after launch.

Cookies and similar technologies sit under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, not only UK GDPR. You need consent before setting anything that is not strictly necessary for the service the visitor asked for. The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 added new exceptions, including cookies used to collect statistical information about how your online service is used so you can improve it. Advertising and cross-site tracking still need consent, and a third-party analytics tool does not automatically fit the new exception.

Ask your developer to list every cookie and tag the site sets, and why. That list decides what your banner must ask for, and it is the first thing a regulator or a careful customer will want to see. It is part of any website launch checklist worth the name.

Two duties are often confused. The public sector accessibility regulations require public bodies' websites and apps to meet WCAG 2.2 AA; they do not cover most private companies. Separately, every UK service provider has a duty under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people, and that includes how they serve customers online. For a private business, WCAG 2.2 AA is the sensible target to write into the contract, even though no regulation names it for you.

Write the target into the website or software scope, and test with a keyboard and a screen reader before sign-off.