The system is live, it is getting worse, and nobody will touch it.
We take over software that is already in production and already costing someone their week. Ageing WordPress and PHP systems, builds that stopped at eighty percent, codebases whose author has gone. We stabilise the system, upgrade it in place, and then keep running it.
It works, it breaks, and nobody wants to open it
An ageing WordPress, WooCommerce or PHP application that the business depends on every day. Changes are avoided because the last change broke checkout, and the people who understood it have moved on.
The build stopped at eighty percent
A codebase that got most of the way there and then stalled. Increasingly this is code generated by AI tools that runs in a demo but has no tests, no deployment path and no one who can take it the rest of the way.
The developer disappeared
No documentation, no handover, sometimes no access to the server or the domain. The system is still serving customers and nobody in the business knows how it is put together.
The systems we actually ship.
Not a service menu — the concrete systems we design, build and run in production.
Stabilisation and security hardening
Patching, credential rotation, firewall and TLS configuration, and working backups that have been restored at least once. We also clean up and recover sites that have already been compromised.
PHP and framework upgrades
Moving old PHP applications and Laravel projects up through the versions they have been stuck below, including the dependency and deprecation work that comes with it. We have inherited codebases across many PHP versions and taken them to 8.4.
Explore SolutionWordPress and WooCommerce engineering
Custom theme and plugin work, replacing plugin sprawl with code we control, database and query cleanup, and page performance. Ten years and more than 50 production sites of this.
Explore SolutionServer migration and infrastructure rebuild
Moving systems onto DigitalOcean with RunCloud, nginx or Apache, Cloudflare and Let's Encrypt certificates. Staging environments, deployment that is repeatable, and monitoring that tells us before the client does.
Rebuilding onto a modern stack
Where patching is no longer worth it, we migrate off the legacy CMS onto Laravel, Livewire, Alpine and Tailwind, in stages, with the old system serving traffic until the new one is ready. A system on a current stack can also take on AI capability rather than only being kept alive.
Explore SolutionFinishing half-built codebases
Reading what is there, deciding what to keep, and completing the parts that were never done: authentication, payments, error handling, deployment. We add tests, PHPStan and Larastan, Pint and CI so the next change is safe to make.
From first call to production.
A small number of steps, each ending in something you can look at. No big-bang delivery.
Audit
We read the code, the database and the server, and we write down what is there: versions, dependencies, security exposure, what is likely to break next, and what it would cost to keep it as it is. You get the document whether or not you continue with us.
Stabilise
Before anything is improved, the bleeding stops. Backups, access control, the known failures, and the errors that are already happening in production. This is usually the first two weeks.
Upgrade or rebuild
We take the system forward in stages that each go live on their own. Some systems are upgraded in place, some are migrated onto Laravel a section at a time, and most are a mix of both.
Run it
Updates, monitoring, backups, incidents, and the small changes the business asks for each month. We hold annual agreements for systems we look after, some of which we did not build.
What we work with
Most of what we build, we still run.
Reactll built Estimonia's AI-powered antique valuation platform from the ground up — combining full-stack development, computer vision integration, and a comprehensive SEO content strategy that drove 25+ guides to first-page rankings within six months of launch.
See our workReactll designed and developed a comprehensive community platform for Real Estate Club Dubai, connecting agents, investors, and property professionals across the UAE. Through custom Laravel/Livewire development, interactive calculators, and aggressive SEO, the platform grew to 79+ active members and 948 discussions.
See our workWe built CheapEVCharger from the ground up as a comprehensive EV charging comparison and education platform. With 50+ charger reviews, 6 interactive calculators, and a programmatic SEO strategy, the platform now serves 10,000+ monthly EV owners.
See our workPick the smallest step that answers your question.
Each one ends in something you can look at — working output, not a proposal. Start where the risk is, not where the roadmap says.
Talk to an engineerWe go through the code, the database and the server and produce a written report: what the system is, where it is exposed, what will fail next, and what we would do in what order. It is yours to act on with anyone.
An agreed piece of work that follows the audit: the security and infrastructure fixes, the version upgrades, or finishing the parts of a build that were never completed. Each stage goes to production rather than waiting for the end.
We host the system or manage your existing servers, keep it patched and backed up, respond when it breaks, and make the changes the business needs. This is where most of our takeover work ends up.
Questions we get asked.
How we scope the work, what it costs to begin, where your data lives, which model or stack we reach for, and who actually does the building. If yours is not here, it is one message away.
Ask an engineerYes, and we do not treat it as a lesser problem. We have built and run more than 50 production WordPress and WooCommerce sites over ten years: custom themes, custom plugins, performance work, server configuration and security. If WordPress is the right place for your system to stay, we will say so.
Usually. Bad code that is running a business is normal, and we do not need it to be good before we start. What we do need is access to the code, the database and the server, and an honest account of what has been happening.
Yes, and it is becoming a large part of this work. Generated code tends to look complete and be missing the parts that only matter in production: error handling, permissions, payments, migrations, deployment. We read it, keep what is sound, and rewrite what will not hold.
No, and usually you should not. A rebuild is the most expensive option and it puts a working system at risk, so we only recommend it where the current stack blocks something the business actually needs. Most engagements are an upgrade in place, with individual parts replaced over time.
Core, plugin and dependency updates, security patching, certificate renewal, backups that we test, uptime and error monitoring, and a named person to contact when something breaks. It also includes the ordinary monthly changes: a new page, a payment method, a report. Anything larger is quoted separately.
