Hi, I'm Richard Bishop, UK based and available for contracts
Full-stack web developer specialising in Laravel, Vue.js, Livewire, and Inertia.js. Professional developer since 2005, Laravel specialist since 2014.
I'm a Laravel specialist with twenty years of professional experience. Most of my work comes from referrals and repeat clients, so this section is mainly for new clients who want a sense of what I'm like to work with before getting in touch.
I've been a professional developer since 2005 and Laravel has been my main tool since 2014. Before Laravel I worked with CodeIgniter, raw PHP, and a stretch of .NET. That's a long time to be doing one thing, and it means I'm not learning the framework on your project. I know the conventions, the common gotchas, and the parts of the ecosystem you only really pick up from running applications in production for years.
I'm UK based and work UK hours. I prefer written communication because it leaves a record, and I'm happy to jump on a call when it actually helps. I keep pull requests small and reviewable. I write tests for the parts of the code that matter, and I'm honest about the parts I think don't need them.
I'll tell you when I think a brief is wrong, and I'll flag risks early rather than waiting for them to become incidents. If the work I'm being asked to do isn't the work that needs doing, I'll say so. Most clients appreciate this. A few don't, which is fair enough.
The bulk of my recent work is Laravel application development: new builds, feature additions, refactors, and version upgrades. I'm comfortable with Livewire, Inertia, Vue, and Tailwind on the frontend side, and I've worked across most of the common infrastructure including queues, scheduled jobs, search, payment gateways, and third-party APIs.
I take on contracts of any length, from a few hours of consulting through to multi-month builds. I work solo or as part of an in-house team, whichever fits the engagement.
A good chunk of my work is API development. I design and build REST and JSON APIs in Laravel, version them properly, secure them with token or OAuth authentication, and add the rate limiting, pagination, and error handling that make an API pleasant to build against. I document the endpoints so the teams consuming them aren't left guessing.
I also do plenty of integration work, wiring Laravel applications up to third-party APIs for payments, messaging, CRMs, and data feeds. If you need a freelance Laravel API developer to build a new API, extend an existing one, or untangle an integration that's misbehaving, that's squarely the kind of work I take on.
I'm direct about scope, timelines, and cost. I'd rather quote conservatively and deliver early than over-promise and slip. If something is going to take longer than I thought, you'll hear it from me before it becomes a problem. If I'm not the right person for the job, I'll say so, and where I can I'll point you toward someone who is.
My day rate is £400 to £600 + VAT depending on the complexity and duration of the engagement. I'm also available on an hourly or ad-hoc basis for smaller pieces of work.
I work on everything from quick ad-hoc tasks to long-term builds. Whether you need a few hours of consulting or a multi-month engagement, I'm happy to discuss your requirements.
Yes, API work is a core part of what I do. I build REST and JSON APIs in Laravel from scratch, extend existing ones, and integrate third-party APIs for payments, messaging, and data. Authentication, versioning, rate limiting, and clear documentation come as standard.
Yes. I offer retainer arrangements for clients who need regular, ongoing development support. This works well for teams that want a reliable Laravel specialist on call without a full-time commitment.
I work remotely by default, which is how I deliver the best results. I'm flexible on occasional on-site visits if the project calls for it.
Availability varies, so the best way to find out is to get in touch. I can often accommodate urgent work at short notice, and for larger projects I typically book 2 to 4 weeks ahead.