Experienced WordPress Developer Needed

I want to take a fresh WordPress install and turn it into a clean, professional website that loads quickly, scales well and is easy for me to update after launch. The exact site type—blog, portfolio, or even light e-commerce—is still open, so I’ll rely on your advice to pick the right route, theme and plugin stack.

Here’s what I need from you:
• Spin up WordPress on my host, configure all core settings, harden security and set up daily backups.
• Recommend a modern, responsive theme (or outline the scope for a custom one) and implement it so the design looks great on mobile and desktop.
• Build the core pages (Home, About, Contact) and set up at least one flexible template I can reuse for future pages.
• Add essentials such as SEO basics, a GDPR-friendly cookie banner and a simple contact form.
• Walk me through the dashboard so I’m comfortable editing content on my own.

If we later decide to bolt on e-commerce or extended blogging features, I’d like guidance on the best plugins and an estimate of the extra work involved.

Please share two or three live WordPress projects you’ve recently completed and note any special strengths you have with performance optimisation, security or custom theme development. I’ll shortlist quickly and aim to kick off within the week.