Benjamin Hughes
Webmaster
Web generalist making websites and software from the ground up since 2004. Optimising for search, accessibility, performance, and UX.
I enjoy solving problems.
Previously @sotic, now freelance.
History
Brentacre Insurance
Freelance
2024—Now
Custom Laravel application development for online car insurance quotes. Complex real-time validation, multiple REST and SOAP API integrations, web & mobile UX design, and more. Providing on-going support and development services.
NetSec Limited
Freelance
2023—Now
Bespoke company marketing website optimised for search visibility. Designed from scratch. Built on Laravel-based Statamic CMS. Providing on-going support, development, consultancy, and SEO services.
Independent Ventures
Independent
2018–2023
Built and managed a portfolio of informational websites with WordPress, the largest of which was valued at $1.1M in 2020. Established affiliate partnerships with global retailers including Walmart and Chewy.
Sotic Developer 2016–2018
PHP Developer. Modern and legacy codebases, writing back-end software for global sports brands. Real-time live scores, database architecture and optimisation, e-commerce applications, critical application security, and more.
Cardiff University
Student
2013–2016
Graduated with a First Class Honours degree in Computer Science (BSc) from Cardiff University in June 2016.
Created a Computer Vision system that detects, extracts, and solves Sudoku puzzles in photographs, then overlays the solution on them. Designed and implemented a specialised OCR engine that combined zone density-based feature extraction with intelligent heuristics based on puzzle constraints. Written in Java.
Recent Projects
Nekaro
2025
More details coming soon.
Rhondda.co.uk
2024
More details coming soon.
Letterwolf 2019
A joint venture with a business partner, exploring informational website niches and various web business models. Produced informational WordPress websites, WordPress themes, plugins, and design explorations.