# Laravel Development UK: Web Apps, Portals and APIs in Laravel

Source: https://dijituldevelopments.co.uk/laravel-development/
Updated: 2026-10-10

> dijitul builds Laravel applications for UK businesses: customer portals, admin and operations systems, APIs, integrations with Xero, Stripe and CRMs, and rescues of Laravel projects that have stalled. We work on current Laravel releases with tests, queues and proper deployments. Every project is a fixed-price quote after a free chat, and you own the code.

## Problems this solves

- Your Laravel app is three major versions behind and nobody wants to touch the upgrade
- The developer who built it has left and there are no tests or documentation
- Jobs that should run in the background slow every page down
- You need an internal system, and a SaaS product only covers half of it
- A spreadsheet-driven process has outgrown spreadsheets

## Key facts

- Laravel 13 was released on 17 March 2026 and requires PHP 8.3 or later
- Laravel 12, released 24 February 2025, receives security fixes until 24 February 2027
- Laravel's release policy gives each major version 18 months of bug fixes and two years of security fixes
- We use Laravel's queues, scheduler, Sanctum API tokens, policies and migrations as standard
- Front ends in Blade, Livewire, or React and Vue through Inertia, depending on the project
- Automated tests in Pest or PHPUnit cover money, permissions and integrations
- Fixed-price quote after a free chat; code in a Git repository you own

## Why we use Laravel for business applications

Laravel is our default framework for [web applications](https://dijituldevelopments.co.uk/web-application-development/) that run a business: portals, booking systems, billing, stock, approvals and reporting. It is PHP, so it runs on mainstream hosting and there is a large pool of developers who can maintain it. It also gives us, out of the box, most of what a business system needs:

- **Eloquent** and database migrations, so the schema is version-controlled alongside the code.
- **Authentication, policies and gates** for role-based access.
- **Queues and the scheduler** for background jobs, imports, emails and integrations, with Horizon to monitor Redis queues.
- **Sanctum** for API tokens and single-page app authentication.
- **Notifications** across email, SMS and Slack.
- **First-class testing** with Pest or PHPUnit.

That means less code to write and less unusual code for the next developer to learn.

## Laravel versions and support

Laravel releases a major version each year. Under its published support policy, each version gets 18 months of bug fixes and two years of security fixes.

| Version | Released | Minimum PHP | Security fixes until |

| Laravel 12 | 24 February 2025 | PHP 8.2 | 24 February 2027 |
| Laravel 13 | 17 March 2026 | PHP 8.3 | Around Q1 2028 |

Anything older than Laravel 12 is already outside security support. Many business applications we are asked to look at are on Laravel 8, 9 or 10, often on PHP versions that are also out of support. Upgrades are usually very manageable if done one version at a time with tests in place; they become painful only when left for years. We use tools such as Rector to automate the mechanical changes and spend our time on the parts that need judgement. See [PHP upgrade and modernisation](https://dijituldevelopments.co.uk/php-upgrade-modernisation/).

## What we build in Laravel

### Customer and supplier portals

Logged-in areas where customers see orders, invoices and documents, raise requests and update details, often pulling data from Xero, Sage or an ERP. See [customer portal development](https://dijituldevelopments.co.uk/customer-portal-development/).

### Operations systems

Job management, stock, scheduling, approvals and staff target tracking, replacing spreadsheets that several people edit at once. We have built bespoke web-based billing and staff target management software for years, and the same patterns apply.

### APIs and integrations

A Laravel API that your website, mobile app and partners all use, or a Laravel service that sits between systems and keeps them in step. See [API development](https://dijituldevelopments.co.uk/api-development/).

### Admin panels

Back-office screens for staff to manage data, often built quickly with Filament or Livewire so budget goes on the business logic rather than form layouts.

## How we build it

- **Tests first where it matters.** Pricing, invoicing, permissions and integrations get automated tests. A change to a tax rule should never silently break invoices.
- **Queues for anything slow or external.** API calls, PDFs, emails and imports run as queued jobs with retries and backoff, so users never wait on a third-party service.
- **Idempotent integrations.** Webhooks from Stripe or Xero can arrive more than once; we store event IDs and ignore repeats.
- **Static analysis** with PHPStan or Larastan to catch mistakes before they reach production.
- **Repeatable environments** with Docker or Laravel Sail, and automated deployments with zero-downtime releases.
- **Audit logs** for who changed what, which matters for finance data and GDPR.

## Security and data protection

Business applications hold customer records, invoices and sometimes health or financial data, so security is part of the build, not a bolt-on. Laravel gives us good foundations: CSRF protection, parameterised queries through Eloquent, escaped Blade output and bcrypt or Argon2 password hashing. On top of that we add:

- Two-factor authentication for staff accounts, and single sign-on with Microsoft Entra ID or Google Workspace where your team already uses it.
- Policies on every model so users only see and change what their role allows.
- Encrypted storage for API tokens and sensitive fields.
- Rate limiting on logins and public endpoints.
- Data retention rules and export tools that help you answer UK GDPR subject access requests.

## Inheriting a Laravel project

We often pick up Laravel applications from other developers. We start with a [code audit](https://dijituldevelopments.co.uk/code-audit/): versions, dependencies, test coverage, security, database design and deployment. You get a plain-English summary of what is sound, what is risky and what we would fix first, with a fixed-price quote for that work.

New project or rescue, we begin with a free chat. For bigger builds we usually recommend a short [discovery and scoping](https://dijituldevelopments.co.uk/discovery-and-scoping/) stage, then a fixed price for each phase. [Get in touch](https://dijituldevelopments.co.uk/contact/).

## What we deliver

- New Laravel web applications, portals and admin systems
- REST or JSON APIs with Sanctum or OAuth 2.0 authentication
- Queued integrations with Xero, QuickBooks, Stripe, CRMs and ERPs
- Role-based access, audit logs and reporting dashboards
- Laravel version upgrades and PHP upgrades with test coverage added
- Code reviews and rescues of inherited Laravel projects
- CI/CD pipelines and Docker-based environments

Technologies: Laravel, PHP 8, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Redis, Livewire, Pest, Docker

## FAQs

### Which Laravel version should a new project use?

A new project should start on the current major release, which is Laravel 13 at the time of writing, running on PHP 8.3 or later. dijitul plans for each annual Laravel release so upgrades are small, regular steps rather than an expensive jump later.

### Can you upgrade our old Laravel application?

Yes. dijitul upgrades Laravel apps one major version at a time, adding tests around critical features first, using Rector for mechanical changes and updating PHP alongside. You get a fixed-price quote after we have reviewed the code.

### Can you take over a Laravel project another developer started?

Yes. We begin with a code audit covering versions, security, tests and structure, then explain what state it is in and what needs doing first. From there dijitul quotes fixed-price work to stabilise, finish or extend it.

### Is Laravel suitable for large business systems?

Yes. With queues, caching, database indexing and horizontal scaling, Laravel runs substantial business applications. The bigger risk is usually poor structure rather than the framework, so dijitul designs clear modules, tests and background processing from the start.

### Do you use Livewire, Inertia or a separate front end?

It depends on the project. dijitul uses Blade and Livewire for admin-heavy systems, Inertia with React or Vue for richer interfaces, and a separate React or Next.js front end when the API serves several clients such as a mobile app.

### How is Laravel development priced?

We do not publish prices. After a free chat dijitul scopes the work and gives a fixed-price quote, phased for larger builds. Anything added later is quoted before work starts.

## Pricing and contact

Every project gets a fixed-price quote after a free initial chat and a short scoping stage. You own the code and the data. Book a free chat: https://dijituldevelopments.co.uk/contact/ · 01623 650333 · info@dijitul.uk