https://farington-consultancy.co.uk/insights Technology insights and practical perspectives from Gordon Thomson, former CTO and senior software engineer. en-gb https://farington-consultancy.co.uk/blog/laravel-packages-creating-my-first-part-1 https://farington-consultancy.co.uk/blog/laravel-packages-creating-my-first-part-1 Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000 I've been using PHP packages for years but never created one. Here's how I went from scratching an itch to scoping, structuring, and building a Laravel package from the ground up. https://farington-consultancy.co.uk/blog/creating-mvps-avoiding-gotchas https://farington-consultancy.co.uk/blog/creating-mvps-avoiding-gotchas Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 It's hard to create an MVP that demonstrates your core idea and yet remains easy to maintain. Here's a broad look at the foundations and the gotchas to watch for. https://farington-consultancy.co.uk/blog/whats-in-a-role-part-1 https://farington-consultancy.co.uk/blog/whats-in-a-role-part-1 Wed, 11 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 When job titles don't match actual responsibilities, everyone loses. Here's how misaligned roles damage productivity and ROI. https://farington-consultancy.co.uk/blog/whats-in-a-role-part-2 https://farington-consultancy.co.uk/blog/whats-in-a-role-part-2 Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Six practical steps to fix role misalignment, prevent costly mismatches, and build a more productive engineering team. https://farington-consultancy.co.uk/blog/you-have-to-adapt https://farington-consultancy.co.uk/blog/you-have-to-adapt Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000 The debate around AI in development has seemingly split into two very vocal camps. I don't find either is particularly helpful. Here's where I've landed after adopting it fully across real projects.