Legacy PHP & Laravel rescue

Your platform still runs the business. The people who built it are long gone.

I secure, modernise and maintain ageing PHP and Laravel platforms for UK SMEs, without rewrites-from-scratch, and without the drama.

Start with a Platform Audit See case studies →

25 yrsshipping PHP in production

0114 706 2526Call for a free consultation

Sheffield, UK

A steady technical partner

I partner with established SMEs to take ownership of complex web platforms, improving structure, performance and reliability over time.

My work typically involves auditing existing systems, refactoring fragile code, introducing clearer architecture, and implementing controlled improvements without disrupting day-to-day operations. When required, I also design and deliver new Laravel platforms with long-term maintainability in mind.

Clients value straightforward advice, transparent communication and friendly, authentic support. I operate as a steady technical partner, focused on practical solutions, not unnecessary complexity.

Read more about these client relationships in the case studies.

One path, three stages

I take on ageing PHP and Laravel platforms and get them back under control. It happens in three stages, in order.
You do not have to commit to the whole journey. You just have to start it.

Stage 1 of 3

Secure — the Platform Audit

The smallest safe first step. A fixed-price, fixed-scope review of your codebase, security, and server, delivered as a plain-English report with a prioritised, costed action plan. £1,950, within two weeks. Even if you never hire me again, you walk away knowing exactly what you own and what it needs.

Start with a Platform Audit

Stage 2 of 3

Modernise — legacy PHP to Laravel

Scoped from the audit, never guessed at from a distance. Using the Strangler Fig pattern, old and new run side by side, so your users see no disruption. Zero-downtime deployment with automated rollback. You end up with a modern Laravel codebase, tests, documentation, and no vendor lock-in. The result is confidence, not fear.

See Modernise

Stage 3 of 3

Maintain — the ongoing retainer

Where the journey lands. A dedicated technical partner who monitors your infrastructure and deals with issues before they become outages. Proactive monitoring, dependency and security updates, monthly reporting, and named response times. £500 a month.

See Maintain

Take a look at the latest blog

Notes from the work itself: what broke, what I found, and how I fixed it.

Read the blog

Apr 29, 2026

From broken reports to a bottle of Champagne: the FHRS platform launch

I took over a food safety compliance SaaS that was timing out on reports, leaking memory on imports, and had serious security gaps. Here's what I fixed, and how Paul marked the launch.

Apr 2, 2026

How a PHP config change and library update eliminated every PDF failure on a 27-module SaaS

Consultants on a health and safety compliance platform were hitting intermittent PDF failures in the field. The root cause was PHP memory configuration. Here's how I found it and fixed it.

Mar 31, 2026

5 things to check before your PHP platform goes down in production

Most production PHP incidents are preventable. These are the five checks I run on every platform I take over, and what I typically find.

Recent Work

A selection of projects I have delivered for clients.

THSP Website: Ongoing WordPress Maintenance

MyTHSP Application: Ongoing Support & Server Optimisation

FHRS Management System Modernisation

Glen is a pleasure to work with: communicative, thorough, and highly capable. He took on a system that was experiencing serious issues from a previous developer. He quickly transformed the system, creating a much clearer and intuitive user interface together with identifying and delivering a number of major performance upgrades. The improvements have given our clients data security, great new features and reliable performance.

Paul Osborne

Director, FHR Services Ltd

FAQ

The questions people usually ask before getting started.

How long have you been doing this?

Over 25 years. I started building for the web in the late 1990s, and have worked across agency, in-house, and freelance roles including leading development teams for over a decade. For the past several years I've focused on Laravel, PHP modernisation, and Statamic CMS work for UK businesses. That breadth of experience means I've seen most problems before, I understand what 'production-ready' actually means, and I know when to build something properly versus when to reach for a simpler solution.

My site or system is old and slow. Can you improve it without rebuilding from scratch?

Usually, yes. A full rebuild is often unnecessary and expensive. In most cases, targeted improvements deliver significant results from upgrading the PHP version, fixing database performance issues, resolving memory problems, or cleaning up years of accumulated technical debt. I've taken systems running on PHP 7 through to modern PHP 8.x without touching the core business logic, and resolved performance issues that had been causing problems for years. I'll always start with an honest assessment of what's worth fixing versus what genuinely needs replacing.

What happens after launch? Do you offer ongoing support?

Yes. Most clients move onto a monthly support arrangement after their project goes live. This covers ongoing development, updates, security monitoring, and someone to call when something needs attention. For WordPress sites, this includes testing all core, plugin, and theme updates in a local environment before applying them to your live site. For Laravel and PHP platforms, it means a dedicated block of time each month for bug fixes, small improvements, and proactive maintenance. You're not left to fend for yourself after handover.