Find what is actually slow, then fix it
We measure before we change anything. Core Web Vitals, database queries, cache behaviour, dependency risk and application-level security — assessed, prioritised by impact, then fixed, with before-and-after numbers.
Measure, prioritise, then change
Key benefits
What this changes for your business.
Numbers before and after
Every engagement starts with a baseline and ends with the same measurement repeated, so the improvement is a fact.
Fixes ranked by impact
You get a prioritised list with estimated effort, so the cheap high-impact items are done first.
Findings you can act on
Each issue comes with a severity, a reproduction and a proposed fix — not a scanner report you have to interpret.
Cheaper to run
Query and caching work usually reduces the infrastructure bill as well as the load time.
What we deliver
The things you actually receive.
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Performance audit
Core Web Vitals, server response time, asset budgets and the queries behind the slowest pages.
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Database optimisation
Indexing, N+1 elimination, query rewriting and the schema changes that make a slow report fast.
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Caching strategy
What to cache, where, for how long and how it is invalidated — the last part being the one that is usually missing.
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Application security review
Authentication, authorisation, sessions, input handling, file uploads and business-logic flaws.
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Dependency and supply-chain review
Known advisories, unmaintained packages and the upgrade path out of them.
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Security headers and transport
CSP, HSTS, cookie flags and TLS configuration, tested against what browsers actually enforce.
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Remediation, not just a report
We fix what we found, in priority order, and re-measure at the end.
Core capabilities
The engineering disciplines this service draws on.
Technologies we use
The stack we would reach for, and what each part is for.
Laravel
A mature PHP framework for secure, maintainable server-rendered applications and APIs, with authentication, queues and testing built in.
PHP
The language behind a large share of the web, and a fast, strictly typed one since PHP 8.
Redis
An in-memory store used for caching, queues and rate limiting — the difference between a page that waits on the database and one that does not.
PostgreSQL
A relational database with strong support for JSON, full-text search and geospatial data, for models that outgrow plain tables.
MySQL
A widely deployed relational database — a safe, well-understood default for transactional business data.
Docker
Containers, so the application a developer runs locally and the one running in production are the same artefact.
AWS
Cloud infrastructure with managed databases, storage and networking, so capacity follows demand instead of a purchase order.
Playwright
Browser tests that click through the real application, which is the only way to know a flow still works end to end.
Industries we serve
Sectors where this service tends to fit well.
- E-Commerce
- FinTech
- SaaS
- Media & Publishing
- Healthcare
- Education
Our delivery process
How an engagement runs, from first conversation to ongoing support.
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Discovery
We work out what the software has to do, who uses it, and which constraints are real. The output is a written scope, not a proposal.
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Architecture
Data model, boundaries, integrations and infrastructure decided and agreed before anybody writes application code.
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Design
Flows and interface, including the empty, error and permission states that decide how the product actually feels.
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Development
Built in reviewable increments against a conventional structure, with tests around the parts that would be expensive to break.
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QA & security
Functional testing, performance checks, and a review of authentication, authorisation and dependency risk before launch.
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Launch
Deployment, monitoring, and a period of close attention while real traffic finds what staging did not.
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Continuous improvement
Patches, upgrades and new work through the support system, so the product keeps being maintained rather than quietly ageing.
Use cases
What this looks like as a finished product.
A site that got slow as it grew
Pages that were fast at launch and are not now — usually queries, usually fixable in days rather than weeks.
A security review before a deal
A customer or investor asks for one. We produce an assessment with findings, severity and remediation status.
Getting ready for a traffic peak
Load testing and capacity planning before a campaign, rather than an incident report after it.
Why Vertex Arc
We measure first
No change is made on a hunch. The baseline is recorded before the first line is touched.
Findings in plain language
The report is written to be read by the person who has to approve the budget, not only by an engineer.
No guarantees we cannot keep
We do not promise compliance, certification or that you will not be breached. We tell you what we found and fixed.
We fix, not just report
An audit that ends with a PDF has moved the problem, not solved it. Remediation is part of the engagement.
Frequently asked questions
How long does an audit take?
Is this a penetration test?
Can you improve performance without rewriting our application?
Have a project in mind?
Book a 30-minute call with the engineers who would do the work, or send us the details and we will come back to you.