This post describes how I developed the Discount Dining Finder a lookup map tool for the Eat Out to Help Out scheme in my spare time. I currently work with Equal Experts and HMRC. The aim of this writing is to provide an insight into how problems of scaling services can be solved by having no servers and not using “serverless services” either. Aperitif A really nice side effect in working in a high functioning environment is that sometimes you’re involved in bouncing ideas off each other.

In this post, I describe my personal experience of being part of a software development team working with Equal Experts and HMRC during Covid-19. Under normal circumstances, we’re responsible for tax services such as Self Assessment, PAYE Expenses and Benefits, VAT submissions amongst others. These services run on the Multi-channel Digital Tax Platform (MDTP). This platform is hosted in a hyperscale cloud (the cloud provider has a sideline selling books), run in-house by HMRC teams made up of permanent staff and consultants.