About ยท Jason Smart
One developer.
Twenty years.
No account manager.
The story
The person behind the code
I have spent twenty years building websites and web applications, and the last ten of them specialising in Laravel. It is the framework I know inside out, which means your project gets built faster, with fewer surprises, and in a way another developer could pick up tomorrow.
The work ranges from a five-page site for a local trade to booking platforms, customer portals and compliance tools that a business runs on every day. When an interface needs to feel like an app I reach for React. When it needs to leave the browser altogether, NativePHP lets the same Laravel codebase ship as a desktop or mobile app.
What I care about most is understanding what you actually need rather than what is fashionable. No fancy office, no being passed between departments. Just me, doing the work, and keeping you in the loop at every step. If something will not work, I will say so. If there is a simpler route, I will suggest it.
Based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire
Happy to meet locally. Most projects run remotely with clients around the UK.
Laravel and PHP specialist
Two decades of PHP, the last ten years almost entirely in Laravel, with React and NativePHP where they earn their place.
One developer, start to finish
The person you brief is the person who writes the code, deploys it and picks up the phone afterwards.
Businesses of every size
Sole traders, agencies, funded startups and established firms with software older than some of their staff.
Runs on tea
Yorkshire, obviously.
How I think
Six things you can hold me to
Plain English
If I cannot explain a technical decision in a sentence you understand, I have not finished thinking about it.
Build in the open
Weekly demos on a staging site. You see progress, not a big reveal at the end.
You own everything
Code in your repository, hosting in your accounts, documentation good enough for the next developer.
Boring tools on purpose
Long support windows and a wide talent pool beat whatever is trending this month.
Say no early
If a feature will not pay for itself, or an app is the wrong answer, I will tell you before you spend money on it.
Stay useful after launch
Support if you want it, a clean handover if you do not. No lock-in either way.
Jason just gets it. No technical waffle, no over-promising. He listened to what we needed, suggested a simpler approach that saved us money, and delivered exactly what he said he would. Refreshing to work with someone so straightforward.
Want to work with
someone straightforward?
Tell me what you are trying to build or fix. If I'm not the right person for it, I'll say so and point you somewhere better.