Senior Laravel Architect & Contractor

Full-Stack Developer with 10+ years' experience architecting scalable PHP/Laravel backends and decoupled Vue 3 frontends. Expert in system modernisation and delivering within highly regulated environments (PCI-DSS, UK Gambling Commission). Available for new contract projects immediately (remote), leveraging AI-augmented workflows (LLMs and coding agents) to increase development velocity, automate complex migrations, and deliver robust solutions with higher precision.

Legacy Maintenance & Refactoring

Stabilise messy codebases, reduce bugs, and modernise incrementally without downtime.

Backend Architecture & APIs

Laravel-first systems, microservices, REST/SOAP APIs, SOLID design.

Compliance-Ready Integrations

PCI-DSS and UK Gambling Commission delivery, payments, audits, and migrations.

Cloud Infrastructure

AWS Lambda/Fargate, Terraform, Docker, monitoring and observability.

Modern Frontends

Decoupled Vue 3 and TypeScript UIs that pair cleanly with APIs.

AI-Augmented Delivery

LLM-assisted automation to speed up workflows, docs, and migrations.

Regulated Environments

Delivered in PCI-DSS and UK Gambling Commission contexts.

Scale & Reliability

Deployed an existing service to AWS across environments using Terraform.

Data & Search

Complex migrations plus DynamoDB and Algolia pipelines.

Beyond the Code: Architecting Laravel for High-Regulation Compliance

How to architect Laravel systems for compliance - SOLID design, environment parity, and tests as audit evidence.

Independent Projects & R&D

Oct 2025 - Present (Remote, UK)

• Developed an AI-driven Laravel assistant leveraging Open WebUI and local LLMs to accelerate architectural planning and Laravel 12 migration workflows.
• Integrated Gemini, Cline, and OpenCode to automate code generation and system documentation, significantly reducing R&D overhead.
• Advanced technical breadth through systems programming (C, C#) and game engine architecture (Godot).

CAVU

PHP Developer, Jan 2024 - Sep 2025 (Remote, UK)

• Engineered Infrastructure-as-Code (Terraform) to provision and deploy new API services onto AWS Lambda and Fargate, while managing the end-to-end release lifecycle for existing services across Dev, Test, and UAT environments using Octopus Deploy.
• Contributed core feature development and technical maintenance across a mission-critical ecosystem of 10+ microservices, including specialized integrations for IATA-certified barcode and QR logistics systems.
• Improved system observability and reliability by implementing Datadog monitoring to proactively identify bottlenecks and maintaining high code standards through SOLID principles and comprehensive PHPUnit test coverage.
• Developed scalable data solutions using Algolia and DynamoDB to ensure high-performance search and storage capabilities for microservice-driven architectures.

Sterling Lotteries

Full-Stack Developer, Dec 2021 - Sep 2023 (Barrow-in-Furness, UK)

• Navigated complex regulatory landscapes to deliver UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) and PCI-DSS compliant solutions for multi-tenant betting platforms.
• Accelerated client onboarding by engineering a unified data import system to migrate massive third-party datasets with zero downtime.
• Built custom, tenant-specific feature sets within a shared core, increasing client satisfaction while maintaining a single, maintainable codebase.
• Standardized containerized development using Docker, reducing environment-related bugs and onboarding time for new engineering hires.

EV-comply

Full Stack Developer, Sep 2021 - Dec 2021 (Remote, UK)

• Transformed deployment reliability by automating CI/CD pipelines through Bitbucket, reducing manual error and release cycles.
• Developed and containerized scalable applications using Docker and Kubernetes within AWS cloud environments.
• Enforced high code quality standards through Test-Driven Development (TDD) using PHPUnit and Codeception in an Agile/Scrum framework.

Be Creative Digital

Senior Software Developer (promoted from Web Software Developer), Feb 2016 - Aug 2021 (Barrow-in-Furness, UK)

• Led the end-to-end delivery of a greenfield SaaS platform, managing everything from MySQL schema design to a Laravel-powered white-label API and hybrid mobile apps.
• Mentored junior developers through full apprenticeships, establishing robust Git workflows and code review processes to foster team growth.
• Consulted directly with stakeholders to translate complex business needs into bespoke technical solutions, including CRMs and sports management platforms.

Backend

PHP, Laravel, OOP, MVC frameworks, REST/SOAP APIs, PHPUnit, SOLID design

Frontend

JavaScript, TypeScript, jQuery, Angular, Vue.js (Vue 3, Composition API), Bootstrap, Tailwind

Databases

MySQL, MariaDB, DynamoDB, Redis, Algolia, MySQL/MariaDB Spatial (ST_Distance_Sphere)

Tools & Platforms

Git, Docker, Linux CLI, Terraform, AWS, Ionic, Capacitor, Cordova, Gemini, Local LLMs, Cline, Jira, Confluence, Bitbucket, GitHub, Slack