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Rescuing a stalled build: a secure personal legacy platform for a UK founder

A previous agency could not deliver the platform the way the client needed it. We took over the whole project — security, blockchain integration, B2B portal and all — and shipped it on a fixed price, close to the timeline we set.

US$4.44 m
global average cost of a data breach
IBM, Cost of a Data Breach Report 2025 · Breaches studied March 2024 – February 2025
45%
average budget overrun on large IT projects
McKinsey & Company with the University of Oxford · Study of 5,400 IT projects, published 2012

Figures from named third-party sources, last verified 2026-10-21.

Background

Where the project stood when it reached us

The client is a founder in the United Kingdom building a personal legacy platform: a place where people store memories, messages and important documents securely, and decide who can see them and when.

The project did not start with us. The founder had engaged another development company first. That company was unable to complete the work the way the client required, and the project stalled. One of the partners at that company knew WebZ Experts and referred the client to us.

We took over everything: the existing codebase, the outstanding requirements and the relationship. From that point the client dealt with one team.

At a glance

  • Client
    Individual founder (name withheld at the client’s request)
  • Location
    United Kingdom
  • Product
    Personal legacy platform — secure storage and sharing of memories, messages and important documents
  • Engagement
    Fixed-price takeover and build
  • Stack
    Laravel, PHP, MySQL
Personal Legacy Platform — homepage of the platform built by WebZ Experts
The Challenge

What made this harder than a normal build

Taking over someone else’s unfinished build is harder than starting fresh. The client had a clear picture of what the platform had to do, and the first attempt had not matched it. Our job was to deliver exactly that picture, not an approximation of it.

Three requirements were well beyond a standard web build. The platform handles people’s most sensitive personal documents, so security had to be designed in rather than added later. The client specified blockchain integration as a core requirement. And alongside the consumer product there had to be a B2B portal so that businesses could use the platform too.

The client also wanted price certainty after the first experience. We quoted the remaining work as a fixed price against a timeline we set ourselves, and were measured against both.

Large IT projects run 45% over budget and 7% over time on average while delivering 56% less value than predicted — which is why so much of our custom-software work starts as a rescue. — McKinsey & Company with the University of Oxford, Study of 5,400 IT projects, published 2012

What We Built

The platform, feature by feature

Everything the client had specified from the start, including the parts that had stalled the first attempt.

Security and encryption

Sensitive documents and messages are stored with encryption and access control designed in from the first sprint, with role-based permissions governing who can view what, and when.

Blockchain integration

Implemented to the client’s specification as part of the platform’s core requirements, integrated with the Laravel application rather than bolted on beside it.

B2B portal

A separate business-facing portal alongside the consumer product, so organisations can use the platform with their own users, in addition to individuals.

Memories, messages and documents

The core consumer features: secure storage of personal memories, messages and important documents, with controlled sharing to the people the user chooses.

Laravel, PHP and MySQL

The existing stack was kept so nothing already working had to be rewritten. We stabilised the inherited codebase, then built the outstanding features on top of it.

Delivered to the original requirement

Every feature the client had asked for from the start, including the ones the previous company could not complete, delivered the way the client required.

How We Worked

Four decisions that made the takeover work

1

Audit the inherited code

Before quoting we read the existing codebase, worked out what could be kept and what could not, and listed every outstanding requirement in writing.

2

Fixed price, fixed scope

The client had already paid once for work that was not finished. We quoted the full remaining scope as a single fixed price with a timeline we set, so there was nothing left open.

3

Security first, then features

Encryption and permissions were built before the user-facing features that depend on them, so nothing sensitive was ever stored in a half-protected state.

4

Demos, not status reports

The client saw working software at each stage, which is how the first attempt went wrong: a lot of reported progress, not enough that could be clicked.

The global average cost of a data breach is US$4.44 million, which is why encryption and access control are designed in from the first sprint rather than bolted on. — IBM, Cost of a Data Breach Report 2025, Breaches studied March 2024 – February 2025

Outcome

Delivered, on the price we quoted

The platform was delivered in full, to the client’s original requirement, including the security, blockchain and B2B portal work that had stalled the first attempt. We finished close to the timeline we had set ourselves, and the fixed price we quoted was the price the client paid.

We do not publish user numbers or revenue for this client. What we can say is that a project that had already failed once was taken over by a team the client had never met, in a different country, and delivered.

Takeovers like this are now a regular part of our custom-software work. If you have a build that has stalled with another company, the first step is the same one we took here: a free review of the existing code and a fixed quote for what remains.

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Project summary

UK
Client location
Fixed
Price and scope
3
Advanced requirements: security, blockchain, B2B
1
Team, start to finish
Related Services

The services behind this project

Web Software & Portals

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Bespoke Business Software

ERP, CRM, inventory and production systems built around you.

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FAQ

Questions about this project

Why is the client not named?+

The platform stores highly personal data and the founder prefers not to be identified publicly. The engagement, the stack and the outcome are described exactly as they happened; only the name is withheld. We can discuss the project in more detail on a call.

Can you take over a project another company started?+

Yes, and this case study is one example. We start by reading the existing code, separating what can be kept from what cannot, and listing the outstanding requirements in writing. You then get a fixed quote for the remaining work before anything is built.

Why keep Laravel rather than rebuild from scratch?+

Because parts of the inherited application already worked, and a rewrite would have cost the client a second time for the same features. Laravel is a mature, well-supported PHP framework that we build on daily, so there was no technical reason to change it.

How do you handle security on a platform like this?+

Encryption and role-based access are designed in before the features that depend on them, not added at the end. Every user action that touches a document or message passes through the permission layer, and the stack is kept patched throughout the support period.

Do you work with clients outside India on fixed-price projects?+

Yes. This client was in the United Kingdom and the whole engagement ran remotely. Fixed-price, fixed-scope quotes are our default for defined builds, wherever the client is.

Have a project that has stalled with another company?

Send us what you have. We will review the existing code, tell you what can be kept, and quote the remaining work as a fixed price.

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