How we built neXwork, a UK networking app where individuals find businesses and businesses find each other: a Flutter app, a Laravel API with real-time chat, location matching and push notifications, an admin panel and the nexwork.co.uk website.
neXwork wanted an app where people come to do business: an individual looking for a service or a job finds the right company, and companies find suppliers, partners and staff. Most networking apps turn into a feed of posts and cold messages. This one had to keep every contact purposeful.
Individuals and businesses want different things from the same app. Individuals should see businesses. Businesses should see other businesses and be able to search candidates when they are hiring. Each profile type needed its own data, its own discovery rules and its own tools.
A social app is reviewed closely by Apple and Google. It needed moderation, block and report, real account deletion and push notifications people can control, built in from the start rather than bolted on before submission.
We built the Flutter app for iOS and Android and the platform behind it. The journey is short on purpose: set up a profile, review relevant profiles one card at a time, and only talk when both sides want to.
Users choose an account type, add photos, the services they offer or are looking for, the kinds of collaboration they want and where they are based. Individuals can attach a CV; businesses can attach company documents.
Profiles come up as cards, filtered by account type, services and distance. Location search runs in the database with PostGIS, with a radius the user sets from 1 to 100 km. Tap Connect or Pass and move on.
A connection request can carry one message. When the other side accepts, the connection is made, both people are notified and a conversation opens automatically.
Chat runs over WebSockets on Laravel Reverb, with typing indicators, sent, delivered and read status, file attachments and message likes. Push notifications go out through OneSignal when the app is closed.
Businesses that mark themselves as hiring can search uploaded CVs, and the platform matches CV keywords against what the business is looking for.
Any user can block or report a profile. Reports land in the admin panel, where the neXwork team reviews them alongside the profile and acts.
Users can ask for their account to be deleted through a web page confirmed by email, as Google Play requires. Deleted accounts are held for 30 days in case of a mistake, then removed for good by a daily job.
Connection requests, new connections and messages can reach users in the app, by email or as a push notification, and each user chooses which.
Built on Filament, it covers users and roles, individual and business profiles, services, collaboration types, preferences, subscription plans and reports, with a dashboard showing how many individuals and businesses have joined.
The whole product: the Flutter app for iOS and Android, the Laravel API behind it, the Filament admin panel the neXwork team uses, and the nexwork.co.uk website.
Profiles appear as cards filtered by account type, services and distance. A user taps Connect or Pass, and when the other side accepts, a connection is made and a chat opens automatically.
Messages travel over WebSockets on Laravel Reverb, with typing indicators, delivered and read status and attachments. OneSignal sends push notifications when the app is closed.
Business locations are stored in PostgreSQL with PostGIS, and the API finds profiles inside the radius the user picks, from 1 to 100 km.
Yes. We build the mobile app, the API and the admin panel as one project. Mobile and software projects start from £3,000, and an MVP usually takes one to three months.
We build the app, the API, the admin panel and the website as one project, so nothing gets lost between suppliers. Tell us what you want people to do in your app.
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