From Framework-Hopping to Laravel Focused: The Artisan of the Day Is Bert De Swaef.
Bert De Swaef runs Vulpo, a Belgian studio that leans on Laravel to ship fast, keep code maintainable, and punch above its weight. As he puts it, “We shipped faster and were able to maintain code very, very easily, all thanks to Laravel.” That shift happened once the team adopted Laravel, and it set the tone for everything that followed.
Laravel as the Inflection Point
Before Laravel, Bert and team tried Symfony and Angular among other stacks. Once they switched, the cadence changed. Laravel became their framework of choice for custom apps while the frontend flexed between Vue and React, but mainly Livewire. Vulpo is based in Wetteren and builds tailor-made web apps, websites, shops, and integrations, with a dedicated page highlighting their Laravel work.
Teaching Through YouTube and OSS Contributions
Bert is also a YouTuber who creates Laravel tutorials and other content. His Code with Burt (yes, Burt, not Bert) channel features beginner-friendly series like building a contact app from scratch, practical “quick wins,” localization walkthroughs, Valet setup guides, and package reviews such as validating VAT numbers.
For the latter, he maintains a well-used package in the EU community: laravel-vatnumber-checker, which has already surpassed 67,000 downloads. The package integrates seamlessly with Laravel projects to validate European VAT numbers against the VIES (VAT Information Exchange System). For businesses that need to verify VAT compliance or ensure customer tax IDs are valid, this package eliminates friction and makes the process reliable and developer-friendly.
Speaking and Showing Up for the Community
“I’m a public speaker. I spoke at two Laracons already, which was an awesome experience.” Recent talks include Laracon EU 2025 and Laracon India 2025, where he presented his “Frustrated Bob” session.
He also helps run Devs.gent, a recurring meetup in Ghent that gathers local developers every two months. He says that “Laravel kind of changed my life for the better” and fully embodies the Laravel motto: “We just ship. So let’s ship.”
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