How it works

Three steps. Then straight answers.

You already know the answer. You've imagined it countless times. We bring it into reality, quickly, then tweak it until it's your dream, for real. Below the steps: the things people ask us over a coffee. Not here? Ask us, or use the chat on the homepage.

1

A coffee, a beer or a call

No commitment. Tell us your problems, or your irritations: what you hate doing, what would help most, where it all lives now.

2

It goes in writing

The result we've agreed, the fixed price, and exactly what happens to your data. Signed before anything starts.

3

One fix at a time

Two weeks or less each, and we sit with you while you start using it. You keep using what you use now; the chore just stops landing on you. Want more? That's the next fix, priced on its own.

The basics

What do you actually do?

We find the boring, mind-numbing part of your job, the copying, the chasing, the month-end, and take it away with AI. It's built around how you already work, so you keep your tools and your habits. The chore just stops landing on you.

Is AI really for a business like mine?

Almost certainly. Most people only know AI from the Wall Street headlines or from polishing emails. The real value is smaller and closer to home: the invoice that chases itself, the twenty-five PDFs that turn into one spreadsheet without anyone typing. Can't picture it? Have a look at our ideas.

I can't imagine how AI will help me. Give me three things.

1. Knowing your numbers. Which jobs, customers and products actually make you money, and which quietly don't. 2. Never typing the same thing twice. If it already exists in an email, a PDF, a photo or a system, it lands where it's needed by itself. 3. Staying ahead of the dull deadlines. Certificates, renewals, invoices and chasing, handled before they bite. Want more? Here's a few dozen.

Who are you, actually?

PhDs, and people just below. Thirty years working on some of the most complicated jobs on earth, for some of the biggest corporations in the world. Now we work for you, in Manchester. Our story.

Why are you doing this?

Because we want to. We don't have to. We've spent our careers making the biggest companies in the world run better, and the same tools can now do it for a ten-person firm round the corner. That's the bit we enjoy.

How are you so AI savvy?

We were putting AI to work long before it was on everyone's lips: on some of the most complicated jobs on earth, at a scale that put the company among the top ten users of Google Cloud AI. When GPT-3 made the headlines, it was three releases late for us. Our story.

Will it replace my staff?

No. The original jenny never spun on its own; a person turned the wheel. We take away the drudgery so your people can do the work they're actually good at, build new business, or simply enjoy their jobs more.

Do I need to be good with computers?

Not at all. If you can send a WhatsApp, you're fine. We sit with you, in person, while you start using it, until it's second nature.

Money

What does it cost?

An afternoon is £150 for one small thing sorted. A Look, an audit of where the time and money go, is £750, credited in full if you go on to a fix. One fix is £1,500 to £3,000, fixed and written down before we start. Keep, if you want it, is £150 to £300 a month. Right now we're floating this out to the Manchester community first, so money can wait: just say hello.

I'm spending real money here. What do I actually get?

Simple: your business understood, and the admin taken away. We learn how you really work, then the job you hate stops landing on you. In writing, at a fixed price, and if it doesn't do what we agreed, you don't pay.

Are there any other costs?

Possibly one. The AI itself runs on a provider's service. We have business accounts and we'll always try to price that into what we charge you. But if you use it a lot, it can make more sense for you to have your own account with the provider, in your name. If so, we'll tell you up front, before you sign, with a realistic monthly figure: at most around £180 a month, and usually far less. No surprises.

Will you give my idea to someone else?

No. We're a company that brings ideas to life, and if yours is original, it stays yours. We never build it for anyone else. We're honourable about this, so you can tell us your best ones knowing they go no further. It is a race, though: the everyday stuff any business would ask for, we'll build for anyone, and the first to bring us an original idea is the one who owns it.

Who owns what you build?

Your data is always yours. So are your screens: the look, the layout, your branding. Your copy is yours to keep and use forever, with no monthly charge to use it. What we keep is the engine underneath, the design and know-how we build everyone's fixes on. That's why your next idea costs a lot less: it's built on what's already there. Keep is optional, and it's only us tuning things as you change.

What if it doesn't work?

If it doesn't do what we agreed in writing, you don't pay. No stress.

What about big projects?

We don't do big, open-ended projects. Bigger jobs are split into separate fixes, each priced on its own, two weeks or less each, and you can stop after any of them.

What's a founding client?

We're taking on three Manchester businesses to get the full works free, in exchange for a case study and a testimonial, both written with you and approved by you. What you get.

Your data

What happens to my data?

It goes in writing before anything starts: exactly what we touch, where it lives and who can see it. Until you've signed that, we don't touch it. Every example on this site uses made-up data.

Do I have to change my software?

No. We work with what you already use: your spreadsheets, your accounts package, your inbox, your WhatsApps. Keep what works, add what's missing.

Do I have to wait for my reports?

No. It's self-serve. We'll say your numbers are ready by Monday, but if you want them on Sunday night, they're already there, up to date. Nothing to compile, nobody to ask.

Does AI get things wrong?

It can, if it's used carelessly. We check its work automatically, against your own numbers and rules, every time, in milliseconds. Nearly right isn't good enough, and it doesn't have to be. Why nearly right is a choice.

Working together

I just want one thing solving. Not the full works.

Sure. Call us, we're flexible. One thing is exactly what an afternoon or a single fix is for. No audit you didn't ask for, no package, no upsell.

I feel like I'm too small for even a call.

That's in your own head. Call. A one-person business with one chore it hates is exactly who this is for, and an afternoon from £150 is often all it takes.

I feel like I'm too big for an outfit like yours.

Fair enough. However, we're far from scared. We've spent thirty years on jobs for some of the biggest corporations in the world. Big doesn't worry us; it's where we come from.

How do we start?

A coffee, a beer or a call. No commitment. Tell us what you hate doing, or have an anonymous rant first if you'd rather.

Do you come to us?

Yes, anywhere around Manchester, or we can work remotely. You'll have our personal numbers once we're working together. The opposite of faceless.

How fast is it?

Each fix takes two weeks or less. Small things are often an afternoon.

What's the Worst Spreadsheet Club?

A free monthly meet-up in Manchester, first pint or coffee on us. Bring the spreadsheet you're most embarrassed about. We've seen worse. Nothing gets copied or taken away.

Still wondering?

Just say hello. We're just as interested in friends as money for now.

Say hello