Laravel and PHP upgrades

We bring old Laravel applications and PHP 7 code up to supported, secure versions, one careful step at a time, without losing features or data. From senior Sheffield developers who have contributed fixes to Laravel itself.

Talk To Us About An Upgrade

WHY UPGRADE LARAVEL AND PHP?

Every Laravel release and every PHP version only receives security fixes for a limited time. Once that ends, your application keeps working, but any new vulnerability found in it stays open.

When PHP2Shell hit in October 2026, fixes were released for the supported versions of PHP. Applications running on old versions can't rely on getting one.

Staying put also gets more expensive over time: hosting providers drop old PHP versions, packages stop supporting them, and each skipped release makes the eventual upgrade bigger. Upgrading regularly is the cheapest way to keep a Laravel application healthy.

Signs you need an upgrade

  • Your hosting company is warning you that your PHP version is being retired.
  • Your application is on a Laravel version that no longer gets security fixes.
  • Composer refuses to install a package you need because everything else is too old.
  • The developer who built it has moved on, and nobody wants to touch the code.
  • There are few or no automated tests, so every change feels like a gamble.

HOW WE UPGRADE YOUR APPLICATION

1

ASSESS

We look at your Laravel and PHP versions, every package you depend on, which ones are abandoned, and how much of the application is covered by tests. You get a plain-English summary and a clear quote.

2

BUILD A SAFETY NET

Before changing anything, we add automated tests around the parts of the system your business relies on most, so we can prove they still work after each step.

3

UPGRADE A VERSION AT A TIME

We step through each major Laravel release in turn, raising the PHP version alongside, following the official upgrade guides and replacing abandoned packages with maintained ones.

4

RELEASE SAFELY

Every step is checked on a staging copy against real data before it goes live, with a way back if anything is wrong. Your users shouldn't notice anything except a faster site.

WHAT WE UPGRADE

  • Old Laravel applications, from Laravel 5 onwards, up to the current release.
  • PHP 7 (and older) code brought up to a supported PHP 8 version.
  • Packages and front-end tooling, including replacing abandoned packages with maintained alternatives.
  • Hand-written PHP and in-house frameworks, migrated onto Laravel a piece at a time. We did exactly this for our own helpdesk, with zero downtime.
  • End-of-life platforms such as old Drupal versions, where an upgrade isn't practical and a rebuild that keeps all the data is the better answer.

Not sure whether to fix, upgrade or rebuild? Our article on rescuing a legacy PHP system explains how we decide.

LARAVEL CONTRIBUTORS

We know Laravel from the inside

Richard has had fixes merged into the core Laravel framework, so we understand what changes between releases and why.

STAYING UP TO DATE AFTERWARDS

Once you're on a supported version, keeping there is much easier than catching up. With ongoing maintenance and support we apply security updates as they're released and plan each Laravel upgrade before your version goes out of support, so you never face a big upgrade again. Find out more about our Laravel development and legacy PHP support.

TELL US WHAT YOU'RE RUNNING

Let us know which Laravel and PHP versions your application is on, and we'll tell you what it would take to bring it up to date.

Please provide your details below and we will do our best to get back to you.

Prefer to talk? Call us on 0114 299 8033, 9am–5pm Monday–Friday.

Contact Information

Artumi Systems Ltd. Company Number 8557359

VAT Reg 889031788

Phone number: 0114 299 8033

Opening hours: 9am–5pm, Monday–Friday