Hey, I'm Dan.
Co-founder of Jump24, father, golf enthusiast, Welshman. And someone who genuinely gets excited about PHP updates.
Who I Am
I've been writing code since secondary school, and somehow turned that teenage hobby into co-founding Jump24, a Laravel Partner agency since 2019. I'm not trying to be a LinkedIn "thought leader." I'm just a developer who's learned a lot by breaking things, fixing them, and hoping to save you the trouble.
11+ years building production Laravel. I write about PHP, tooling and the community that shaped my career, and send the best of it out every Friday in Artisan Weekly. Bridgend born, Birmingham based.
Writing, speaking & building.
You'll find me writing about Laravel and PHP, whether it's uncovering features we've all been sleeping on, or explaining why PHP 8.5's URI extension means parse_url() has been lying to us for 20 years. I write the posts I wish I'd found when I was stuck.
I've also started a YouTube channel, and I'm doing more talks, podcasts and streams. Public speaking terrifies me, but the Laravel community has given me so much; standing on stage sharing what I know feels like the least I can do.
Building an agency that works differently.
I co-founded Jump24 because after settling in Birmingham, I didn't want to relocate, and I wanted to build an agency that worked differently. You know that feeling when you're at a company and think "if I ran this place..."? So I went ahead and did it.
We built the agency I'd want to hire: experienced developers, tests on everything, and straight answers, even when that means telling a client not to build something. We became Laravel Partners in 2019, not for the badge, but because we believe in giving back to the ecosystem.
The Real Me.
When I'm not obsessing over code, I'm trying to work on my swing (current mission: breaking 90 consistently). I'm a dad, which means I've mastered the art of debugging code while holding the little one.
I believe the best code is written to good music (currently into lo-fi hip hop and deep house) and that PHP doesn't deserve the hate it gets. The Laravel community is genuinely the friendliest corner of the internet.
Let's Connect.
Whether you want to work with Jump24, chat about that weird Laravel behaviour, debate repository patterns, share PHP horror stories, or book me to speak at your meetup, conference or podcast, I'd love to hear from you.
Artisan Weekly. The best of PHP & Laravel, delivered every Friday.
The Laravel and PHP links I'd send you anyway, hand-picked by me every Friday. One email, no spam, unsubscribe any time.