Practical over fashionable
The right solution earns its place by reducing risk or creating value, not by being new.
About
LH / UK
Engineering principle
Make the next change easier than the last one.
A senior engineer who still likes being close to the code.
I am Laurence Hunter, a UK-based freelance software engineer. I help businesses look after important existing systems, solve difficult technical problems and deliver useful new capabilities.
My background spans established PHP and LAMP applications, Laravel and Symfony, modern React and Node development, REST APIs, cloud-hosted systems, mobile applications and the operational work needed to keep all of that dependable.
I am comfortable entering an unfamiliar codebase, asking the questions that reveal how it really works, and finding a route forward that respects both the technology and the business around it.
What matters to me
Good engineering in context
Clarity over mystery
Technical decisions should be explainable to the people who depend on their consequences.
Progress over perfection
Focused, well-sequenced improvements usually beat a heroic plan that never quite lands.
Ownership over hand-off
I care about what happens after delivery: maintainability, documentation and the next engineer.
Technical range
Broad enough to follow the problem
Tools matter, but the ability to understand an unfamiliar system matters more. These are technologies I regularly work across.
- PHP
- Laravel
- Symfony
- React
- Next.js
- Node.js
- TypeScript
- REST APIs
- MySQL
- Docker
- Azure
- Linux
- Unity
- C#
- RAG
- Document search
Start a conversation
Bring me the system as it is.
If you need an experienced engineer who can get into the detail and keep sight of the business goal, let us talk.