Why We Took Over Route46 Instead of Rebuilding It From Scratch

The instinct in this industry is to rebuild everything. We didn't.

Ask most agencies what they'd do with an existing codebase built by someone else, and the honest answer — even if they don't say it out loud — is usually "rebuild it." A fresh start is easier to quote, easier to control, and easier to put in a portfolio as "built by us." Inheriting someone else's decisions is messier, less flattering, and harder to explain in a case study.

Route46, FourSix46's UK courier and logistics venture, already had a working frontend when Stack46 took it on — built by a previous developer, functional but needing enhancement. We didn't rebuild it. We took it over, improved it, and re-platformed the backend. Here's why that was the right call, and why we'd make the same call again.

Rebuilding isn't neutral — it has a real cost

A full rewrite sounds clean in theory. In practice, it means re-solving every problem the original build already solved, re-discovering every edge case the existing code was quietly handling, and burning weeks of budget and time rebuilding things that weren't actually broken.

Route46's existing frontend — React and TypeScript — wasn't the problem. It was a reasonable foundation that needed stabilising, enhancing, and connecting to better infrastructure. Throwing it away would have cost real time and money to arrive back at roughly the same place, just with a different git history.

What we actually did

The work split into two honest halves:

Frontend — audit and enhance. We reviewed the existing React and TypeScript codebase for structure and stability, then improved and extended it rather than replacing it. Some of the original decisions stayed. Some didn't. That's the normal shape of inheriting real code — not everything needs to change for the platform to get better.

Backend — re-platform. This is where we made the bigger change. We rebuilt the backend on Firebase Functions, deployed in the Europe region, bringing Route46 onto the same infrastructure discipline Stack46 runs across the rest of the FourSix46 ecosystem. That matters practically: it means the same team that built Cinevenn and 46 Dogs can maintain Route46 without learning a second, unrelated stack.

The honesty this requires

We're not going to describe Route46 as something Stack46 built end-to-end, because that isn't true, and a case study that quietly implies otherwise is worth less than an honest one. What's true is more useful anyway: Stack46 can take an existing, imperfect codebase and bring it up to a real standard without the cost of starting over.

That's a genuinely different skill from greenfield development, and most agency websites don't talk about it because most agencies would rather show you their favourite rebuild.

What this means if your product already has code

If you're evaluating an agency because you've already got a codebase — built by a previous developer, a co-founder who's moved on, or an agency that didn't work out — the Route46 story is the honest answer to the question you're actually asking: do I have to start over?

Usually, no. The first real step is an audit, not a rewrite quote. We look at what's there, decide what's worth keeping, and scope the work around that — the same process we ran on Route46.

The short version

Route46 came to Stack46 with an existing React and TypeScript frontend built by a previous developer. Rather than rebuilding it, we audited and enhanced the frontend, and rebuilt the backend on Firebase Functions deployed in the Europe region. It's live and operational today, maintained on the same infrastructure as the rest of the FourSix46 ecosystem.

Stack46 is the full-stack software development agency and in-house engineering arm of FourSix46 Global Ltd (UK Company No. 16712658), founded by Dinesh Koyyalamudi. We take on new builds and existing codebases alike — the same standard either way, for clients worldwide.

Read more: The 46 in Stack46