Hey, I'm Alex.

I help businesses run with fewer people and higher margins .

Lean operating systems for professional services firms and operator-led businesses. Modern tools where they fit. 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 paid engagement, plus the Community.

1:1 Coaching

£200 / hour

Single sessions or packs, for anyone who wants focused thinking on a real problem. Solo operators, execs, intrapreneurs. We get the answer, you go and build it.

Live working session, your problem on the table
Lean operating, AI tooling, business design
Pre-call brief so we don’t waste time
Notes and next steps written up after

See how it works →

Project work

Scoping call → scoped engagement

For businesses with a real operating problem to solve. We diagnose, we install, we make sure it sticks. Tools fit the problem, not the other way round. Long-term partnership often follows when there’s a fit.

1-2 free scoping calls, no pitch deck
Audit lives inside the engagement, not charged upfront
AI, lean systems, workflow redesign, whatever the problem needs
Ongoing partnership when both sides want it

See how it works →

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

Book a scoping 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

How a leaner operation actually runs in your sector. Pick yours.

Legal

What changes for solicitors and law firms when the operating layer gets leaner. Research, drafting, intake, KM.

Read the guide → Recruitment

Where leverage shows up in a recruitment business. BD, sourcing, screening, ops. Without losing the judgment.

Read the guide → Accountancy

How a leaner practice runs. Client comms, doc prep, advisory hours, where to start, what to leave alone.

Read the guide → Training providers

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

Read the guide → Awarding organisations

Standards, qualifications, EPAOs. Compressing 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 May 2026

The Lean Business Model: How to Build a High-Margin Business Without a Big Team

The lean business model isn't about cutting corners. It's a deliberate approach to building businesses that produce outsized results with minimal overhead.

leanpreneur Apr 2026

The Company Brain: How Karpathy, Garry Tan, Hannah Stulberg, Ramp and YC All Landed in the Same Place

Four serious builders, one architecture. YC's Tom Blomfield gave it a name this month: the Company Brain. This is the substrate every business will run on. Here is the version I am still building, what I learned from each of them, and the awkward truths about installing one inside a company.

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.

Browse all writing →