Hey, I'm Alex.

I help businesses run with fewer people and higher margins .

Practical AI implementation and lean operating systems for professional services firms. No hype. Just what actually works.

Join the Community → Work with me

Coined ‘Leanpreneur’

Operates 4 businesses

10+ years building lean

two ways we can work together

What I do

I get inside businesses, understand how they run, and make them run better. Two shapes of engagement, one approach.

Enablement Sprint

Focused 3-week engagement

A tight engagement to get your leadership team using AI effectively. I come in, learn your business, and configure Claude for every function - marketing, HR, finance, ops, leadership.

Per-function context cards & installed skills
Workflow redesign for the whole leadership team
30-day adoption roadmap & champion identification
You leave with systems, not a training deck

Learn about Sprints →

Operating Partner

Retained monthly partnership

For businesses that want someone on the inside, ongoing. I work as an extension of your team - redesigning workflows, building systems, and staying to make sure they stick.

New use cases, onboarding, optimisation
Custom builds where buying doesn’t fit
Reporting, systems, process redesign
Not a consultant. A partner who gets things done.

How it works →

I work primarily with professional services firms - legal, recruitment, accountancy, training, education - but the approach works for any business that runs on people, process, and expertise.

Book a discovery call →

Prefer to start on your own terms? Join the Leanpreneur Community →

in practice

Real businesses, real outcomes

Not thought pieces. Operating work I’ve done inside real businesses that still runs today.

7 staff hired ·30% YoY growth ·National award winner

Award-winning artisan bakery - owner-operators fully removed

A bakery that had doubled in size and was creaking operationally - forced closures from understaffing, no systems, everything on paper. I stepped in to triage: hired 7 staff, restructured leadership, installed digital scheduling, built a custom revenue and labour-cost dashboard, and replaced a legacy costing tool with an AI-powered system that ingests costs from photos, PDFs, and spreadsheets automatically. Eight months later: both owners fully removed from day-to-day operations, year-on-year growth maintained, and the business won a national craft bakery award for the second time.

2,100+ SEO pages ·5 automated jobs ·1,273 providers listed

Find a Training Provider - 1,273 providers, running autonomously

A UK marketplace I built and run connecting employers with training providers. Five automated processes sync government data, generate quarterly provider rankings, and nudge stale profiles. Over 2,100 programmatic SEO pages. Currently transitioning to AI-agent-managed operations for content generation, outbound campaigns, and data freshness.

3,400+ companies ·1,500+ contacts ·10 years in sector

Bolt Search - 10 years in education & skills recruitment

An executive search and board-advisory firm I founded and built in the education, training, and edtech sectors. 3,400+ companies in the network, 1,500+ senior contacts mapped. Proof that I’ve spent a decade inside the sectors I now help transform - I don’t advise from the sidelines.

More about my work →

how I think

AI is a tool. Business fundamentals are the strategy.

I’ve spent twenty years building businesses - recruitment, marketplace platforms, consulting, autonomous systems. What I’ve learned is that the best businesses run lean. Fewer people, smarter systems, higher margins. Technology accelerates that, but it doesn’t replace the fundamentals.

I believe the future of business is lean. Not zero-human. Not bloated. Lean. AI and modern tools mean individuals and small teams can operate at the scale of companies ten times their size. The goal isn’t to replace people - it’s to stop wasting their time on work that doesn’t need them.

The winners combine good business sense with the right technology in the right places. Build first, subscribe later. Own your tools where you can. Direct access to the decision-maker. No committees, no gatekeepers. Implementation, not theory.

20+Years in business

4Companies built

5+Years hands-on with AI

More about me →

kind words

What people say

Real quotes from people I’ve actually worked with. Bakery owners, sector principals, CEOs.

I was working seven days a week and the business was tough to run - we even had to close on one of the busiest days of the year. Eight months later I don’t need to be there and it’s still growing.

Andrew Cotterell

CEO, Grants Bakery

Alex is a tech / AI guru who has built solutions but has the ability to identify a challenge and find an automated way to solve it.

Steve Carter

Principal, Satori Partnership

Very professional and straightforward to work with, with an impressive network in the learning and skills space.

Mark Smith

CEO, Ada National College

for solopreneurs and lean operators

The Leanpreneur Community

A private space for founders and operators building lean. Monthly workshops, bi-weekly show-and-tell, office hours with me. Real people building real businesses, sharing what’s working.

Monthly live workshop
Bi-weekly show-and-tell
Office hours with Alex
Skills library

£129 / month

Join the community →

Prefer to try free first? Grab the Content Engine plugin →

sector guides

Long-form, sector-specific

What Claude actually changes for firms in your industry. Pick yours.

Legal

What changes for solicitors and law firms when AI moves from novelty to operating layer.

Read the guide → Recruitment

How leaner recruitment teams use Claude across sourcing, BD, and ops without losing the judgment work.

Read the guide → Accountancy

The Claude-enabled accounting practice. Where to start, what to leave alone, what changes for clients.

Read the guide → Training providers

Apprenticeship and training delivery, redesigned around AI. Coaches, assessors, IQAs, ops.

Read the guide → Awarding organisations

Standards, qualifications, EPAOs. Where AI compresses cost without weakening the regulator-facing posture.

Read the guide →

Writing

Practical notes on building lean. No hot takes, no 10-step listicles, no AI slop.

Leanpreneur Apr 2026

What Is a Leanpreneur? The Business Model Built for 2026

Most business models assume you need more: more staff, more funding, more infrastructure. The Leanpreneur model starts from a different premise.

leanpreneur Apr 2026

How I Built a Second Brain That Builds Itself

A real autopilot doesn't fly the plane. It holds the course you set, adjusts for turbulence, and frees you to think about where you're going. I built one for my businesses.

Leanpreneur Mar 2026

How I Built a Content Engine That Runs While I Sleep

A solo operator's system for turning daily writing into a week of content across four platforms, with overnight automation and one morning session.

Browse all writing →