Paul & Gina Bearne

We are a  web consultancy based in Southern Ontario, Canada, serving both a local and an international client base.

We focus on WordPress, specializing in creating highly performant, scalable, accessible and SEO friendly code (plugins, themes and WordPress based applications) for large WordPress sites that are often multi-site, multi-language, VIP and/or e-commerce.

Our clients tend to

• be passionate about finding great technical solutions and want things done right;
• need code that is highly performant and compliant to standards;
• sometimes want WordPress to do things it doesn’t normally do.

They may also need thought and team leadership.

Paul:

I am a senior WordPress full stack developer. I discovered WordPress in 2006 when asked to explore the use of collaborative tools internally for a multi-national corporation, setting up a 200+ multi-blog site using WPMU on IIS7. As part of this project, I created my first plugin, Author Avatars (https://wordpress.org/plugins/author-avatars/), which now has 9,000+ active installs.

From this point on, the community, the flexibility and the momentum of WordPress has made it the platform of choice for my work.

I have made core commits to almost every version or WordPress since 3.9 and continue to support the wider WordPress community through meetups, WordCamps, etc. I am currently sponsored by Hostinger to work on WordPress Core, focusing on performance.

My latest contribution:

In 2018, I co-founded Matador Software and launched a commercial WordPress Plugin, Matador Jobs, for the recruitment industry, adding to my growing list of plugins. With my partner, I continue to work on improving and adding to the plugin, with manageable sales growth of 15 to 25% annually.

It has always been important to me to contribute to the wider WordPress community. I was founding co-organizer for a local WordPress Meetup and speak at WordCamps whenever I can, most recently at WordCamp Europe 2022. I am a member of the organizing team for the first ever Canadian national WordCamp, WordCamp Canada 2024.

In 2021/22, the majority of my freelance work was for XWP as part of their WordPress core contributor team. In 2023/24 I took on one or two medium sized freelance projects alongside my Hostinger sponsored core work.

Additionally, I provide mentorship for other coders.

Gina:

I am an experienced project leader, administrator, writer, catalyst and connector. I bring to our business a strong background in operations management and administration, together with experience in writing, editing and content management.

My main role is to maintain an overview and provide ‘the oil in that keeps the wheels turning’. I aim to ensure that all the things that need to happen beyond the coding happen smoothly and in a timely manner.

Although I do not consider myself a web developer, I have built and maintained web sites within wider roles since 1998 and have used WordPress since 2009. I was founding co-organizer of the local WordPress Meetup (handing over the organizational reins after two years) and am a regular attendee at WordCamps.

I am a member of the organizing team for the first ever Canadian national WordCamp, WordCamp Canada 2024, with particular focus on visioning and Indigenous engagement.

Paul Bearne | Gina Bearne

It’s rare to meet a WordPress developer as talented, ambitious, and dedicated as Paul. . . When we have another WordPress build, I’d work with Paul again.

Luxi (Lucy) Huang, Senior Product Manager, CBInsights

Do you need specific high-level WordPress expertise
or additional capacity?
We can help you vision a solution and deliver a product.

Our skills

•  We are a full-stack WordPress consultancy, with a skill-set that includes
• WordPress VIP;
• theme development;
• plugin development and customization;
• Gutenberg blocks;
• integrating with complex data sets;
• multi-language (WPML);
• LearnDash;
• WooCommerce and EDD;
• configuration, including multi-site;
• user training and support;
• mentoring.

Our strengths

•  We
• are enthusiasts – we love what we do;
• have high levels of expertise;
• are dedicated to meeting deadlines;
• own our projects and are invested in the outcomes;
• are flexible and able to change course when needed;
• focus on the business requirements, not just the code;
• are able to think outside the box;
• know and are personally involved in the WordPress community.

Our projects

•  Recent projects have included
• custom Gutenberg blocks and themes for international holiday organization;
• a multi-site scrape and import for sizeable product aggregation site;
• a WordPress API back-end development for React front-end site for international music production company;
• development and marketing of a premium WordPress plugin, Matador Jobs, for the recruitment industry;
• overhauling a Research Portal for a major financial data company, involving a high level of API integration with both internal and external sales and management systems;
• a WordPress API back-end for a React front-end, hosted on WordPress VIP, for a Fortune 100 company’s brand site;
• WordPress VIP migration and continuing support for a Hollywood news organization;
• a custom plugin to allow an organization to manage remote voting;
• complex e-learning membership sites using LearnDash, WooCommerce and EDD;
• custom WordPress templates for agency and corporate sites.

For a more detailed look, please see our Portfolio  and Plugins.

How we can help

•  You might choose us to
• develop bespoke themes that do exactly what you need them to with no excess baggage;
• modify/extend plugins to tailor them to client needs;
• work with API integrations (linking client sites to third party data sources);
• create the code for Sites that require complex logic;
• modify WP-admin, creating custom interfaces;
• provide architectural overview and team leadership/mentoring;
• migrate sites to WordPress, including WordPress VIP.

A number of our clients have come to us looking for a more direct interface with the developer than was available to them within a larger consultancy setup. We work alongside you and are easily able to slot into your team, whether to provide specific high-level WordPress expertise or additional capacity.

We love writing clean, fast code that does its job elegantly and effectively and makes for a great user experience.  And, as WordPress specialists, we know how to do things the WordPress way, embracing the framework rather than fighting it!

Talk to us today about your challenge;
we will help you vision a solution and deliver a product.

It’s rare to meet a WordPress developer as talented, ambitious, and dedicated as Paul.

Research Portal, a vital product, tightly integrated into the CB Insights platform, would not be possible without Paul.

Under tight timelines, Paul went the extra mile to recruit another WordPress developer to help complete the project on time.

When we have another WordPress build, I’d work with Paul again.

Luxi (Lucy) Huang, Senior Product Manager, CBInsights

You asked me last week what factors drove my decision to hire you, and I have to say the biggest factor was your enthusiasm. You called me back right away and launched into the problem-solving part of it – this signaled to me that this would be a good fit.

You are great to work with for the following reasons:

• Deep subject matter expert on WordPress, especially in high transaction/load environments
• Detailed and organized, dedicated to meeting deadlines/milestones
• You own every project you work on and care deeply about the outcome
• Keep your skills very current, run local WP Meetup group
• Flexible in dealing with demanding project requirements – able to pivot if requirements change
• Three dimensional problem solver – you really love what you do
• All around great human being to work with which counts for a lot

Glen Patchet, Co-Founder, Quarterback Digital

Paul is a talented programmer with a passion for WordPress. He was pivotal in maintaining and growing the properties at Metro News where he combined his technical abilities with deep knowledge of the WordPress VIP stack. His work helped bring solutions to market that aligned with business needs and as such it was truly a pleasure work with him.

Owen Lambert, Managing Director, Digital Consumer Products @ Postmedia

Thanks for joining us on one of our intricate projects. Throughout production you demonstrated subject matter expertise, professionalism, and you contributed to the success of the project. Thanks for working with us to make it happen!

Jam3

Paul is very skilled in WordPress and help me with a very advanced issue deep inside a big plugin. He have helped me multiple other times, and he always deliver results.

Lars Steen

You guys are terrific. Really. And you’re a great team. Thank you for your note. It feels great to have proactive people involved.

Conrad Hall, Organizer, WordCamp Toronto 2017

(Gina), so glad to include your experience and wisdom in our community.

Andrea Middleton, WordPress Community Team