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.

Three stages, not a menu

Every ageing platform goes through the same journey: first find out how bad it is and stop the bleeding, then rebuild what needs rebuilding, then keep it healthy. These are not three services to choose between. They are the stages, in order. Each one sells the next: the audit scopes the modernisation, the modernisation ends with a platform worth maintaining, and the retainer is the relationship that keeps it that way. You do not have to commit to the whole journey. You just have to start it.

1
Secure — the Platform Audit
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
2
Modernise — legacy PHP to Laravel
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
3
Maintain — the ongoing retainer
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

Common questions

Answers to what people usually ask before they start.

How do I get started?
Get in touch via the contact form or email glen@bright.limited with a brief description of what you need. I'll come back to you within one business day. From there, we'll have a straightforward conversation about your project with no jargon, no sales pitch. If it looks like a good fit, I'll put together a clear proposal with scope, timeline, and cost before anything is agreed.
How do you price projects?
Pricing depends on the nature of the work. For well-defined projects with a clear scope, I'll quote a fixed price upfront so you know exactly what you're committing to. For ongoing work, retainers, or projects where the scope is likely to evolve, I work at a day rate. There are no hidden extras. If scope changes on a fixed-price project, we agree the additional cost before I proceed. Get in touch with a description of what you need and I'll come back with a clear, honest estimate.
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.