Straight answers, no consultant-speak.

We design and build connected, AI-powered business systems that help SMEs win work, deliver it, and grow the relationship — without adding operational overhead. Every engagement is anchored to one of those three outcomes and follows the same delivery method: Diagnose → Design → Build → Prove → Operate → Connect.

Founder-led and operator-led SMEs, typically £200k–£20m turnover, where the leadership team is close enough to the operation to make real decisions about how it runs. If you're picking between hiring another person, buying more software or fixing the workflow underneath, that's the conversation the Systems Opportunity Call is built for.

No. The 444 Diagnostic and our process are explicitly designed for non-technical operators. We translate between your business reality and the system architecture. You own the outcome; we own the plumbing.

Most AI consultancies sell workshops or model access. We sell working systems that plug into how you win, deliver and grow — measured against a business metric you set, then operated under a Managed 444 Systems agreement so the result compounds. We won't recommend a build if a template or off-the-shelf tool clearly wins for your case.

We work across sectors but have deep experience in professional services, recruitment, property, boutique hospitality and B2B services. The diagnostic is industry-agnostic — it maps operational friction and system opportunity regardless of sector.

Diagnose surfaces where the business is losing time, money or momentum and produces a Systems Opportunity Map. Design turns the priority opportunity into a 444 Systems Blueprint — data model, workflow, guardrails and success metric. Build ships the working system inside the Safe Start of the Risk Envelope. Prove runs it against real inputs and delivers an Evidence Report. Operate is the ongoing Managed 444 Systems agreement that keeps the system tuned. Connect promotes proven systems into deeper integrations across Win, Deliver and Grow.

Diagnose is 1–2 weeks. Design is 1–2 weeks. Build is typically 2–6 weeks depending on complexity. Prove is a 4-week evidence period. Operate begins the day the system is promoted to production. Connect happens only after a system has earned that trust with proven output.

The 444 Diagnostic takes about seven minutes and produces a scored report across Win, Deliver and Grow, an AI-opportunity rating and a recommended starting point. You receive it by email with no obligation to book a call.

A 30-minute call where we pressure-test the diagnostic findings against your operational reality, isolate the workflow with the highest payback, and — if we're a fit — agree the scope for a paid Design phase and a fixed-price proposal.

New systems always start in the Safe Start of the Risk Envelope — generating outputs a human reviews before anything enters a system of record. Only after the Prove phase has shown the system consistently hits the agreed success metric do we discuss Connect: promoting it to Controlled Workflow or Proven Integration with your CRM, accounting or comms stack.

Yes — where it adds clear value and only inside the right Risk Envelope layer. We start outside your risk envelope and connect into existing tools (CRM, accounting, comms) once the system has earned that trust through proven output quality.

There are four steps on the ladder: the free 444 Diagnostic, the Systems Opportunity Call (£0), a paid Design phase, and either a bespoke Build + Prove engagement or a SYaaS (Systems as a Service) template subscription. Every live system is operated under a Managed 444 Systems agreement.

Design is typically £1.05k–£2.1k. Build is typically £1.4k–£2.45k for a focused single workflow, rising with integrations and bespoke logic. Prove is £3.5k–£10.5k depending on complexity. Smaller single-purpose systems can start around £3.5k end-to-end. We quote fixed-price after the Systems Opportunity Call, not by the hour.

SYaaS is our Systems as a Service option: proven 444 templates for common SME workflows, configured for you at £420 setup and £175/month per system. It's the right call when a workflow is fairly standard and you want value in days rather than weeks. The ROI Calculator compares Build, SYaaS and Do Nothing side-by-side.

Typically £105–£420/month per system depending on the tier — covering hosting, model usage, monitoring, evidence reporting and minor iterations. This is the Operate phase; it is what keeps the system tuned as inputs, prices and your business change.

Yes. The 444 Diagnostic is free, takes about seven minutes and produces a full scored report and recommendation. No obligation to book a call afterwards.

For most engagements we invoice 50% on kickoff and 50% on go-live. For larger multi-phase engagements we structure milestones around your cashflow, typically aligned with the end of Design, Build and Prove.

The diagnostic is designed to catch exactly that. When a standard platform handles your needs with minimal customisation, we name it, map the implementation and step aside. We only recommend a bespoke build when it clearly outperforms the commercial alternative for your specific constraints.

Not by default and never during Build or Prove. Every new system starts in the Safe Start of the Risk Envelope — generating outputs that a human reviews before they enter any system of record. Proven Integration is opt-in, granular and reversible, and only reached through the Connect phase.

Layer 1 — Safe Start: manual inputs, human approval, no sensitive system access. Layer 2 — Controlled Workflow: structured data, internal dashboard, clear permissions. Layer 3 — Proven Integration: connected to CRM, accounting or comms with automation rules, monitoring and full audit trail. We always start at Layer 1 and only move deeper when value is proven in an Evidence Report.

We use UK/EU-hosted model providers by default and only use models with no-training guarantees on your data. We can run on fully isolated infrastructure where the use case requires it. Data residency, retention and DPA terms are agreed in writing before kickoff.

Safe Start systems are designed so 'wrong' is visible, recoverable and never automatically actioned. Every output is reviewed. We measure output quality from week one of Prove and tune until it meets the threshold you set — not the threshold we think is acceptable.

Yes. You own the system, the data and the workflow logic. The Managed 444 Systems agreement covers operation; it does not lock you in. You can take the system in-house or move providers with a defined handover.

A Win system upgrades how the business generates and converts demand — lead capture, scoring, follow-up, proposal generation and pipeline visibility. The goal is fewer dropped opportunities and a shorter path from enquiry to signed engagement.

A Deliver system removes friction from the work itself — onboarding, project execution, handover, quality control and internal handoffs. The goal is that the team spends more time on the parts of the work that require judgement, and less on the parts that don't.

A Grow system deepens the client relationship after the initial sale — retention, expansion, referrals, feedback loops and lifecycle communications. The goal is that every client account produces more value over its lifetime without more manual effort.

Both. We have proven system templates for common SME workflows delivered under SYaaS, and we design bespoke systems when the workflow is distinctive enough to warrant it. The diagnostic tells us which starting point fits your case.

That's the default. Most engagements begin with one system — usually the one that will move the needle first — inside the Safe Start. Once it proves value against the agreed metric, we discuss Connect: promoting it deeper or adding a sibling system in another part of Win, Deliver or Grow.

Yes. There are three live examples — a Recruitment Agency (£580/month), a Personal Development platform (£9,500 setup / £650 per month) and a Boutique Hotel (£5,499 setup / £498 per month). Each shows the systems built, the metrics improved and the pricing rationale.

GEO is the discipline of making a business discoverable, credible and quotable by AI engines such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Copilot. It focuses on five dimensions: Entity, Evidence, Language, Authority and Feedability.

Traditional SEO optimises for ranking in a list of search results. GEO optimises for being cited inside an AI-generated answer. That requires a clear entity, structured evidence, customer-aligned language, real authority and machine-readable content — not just keywords and backlinks.

The scorecard measures five dimensions: Entity, Evidence, Language, Authority and Feedability. It takes about five minutes and shows which dimensions the AI Visibility Module would address if you add it to a build.

No. GEO and AEO work is an elective module inside a 444 build, not a standalone agency service. It is chosen during a Blueprint or First System Sprint and costs £1,365 as a build add-on, so the fixes are designed into the system we deliver rather than bolted on afterwards.

AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) is about winning the short, direct answer to a specific question. GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) is broader: making sure AI assistants know who you are, describe you accurately and recommend you. AEO is a tactic inside GEO. If you want the full comparison, our AEO vs GEO page explains both in plain English.

Once the AI Visibility Module is live, monitoring and tuning run inside your Managed 444 Systems agreement at £280 per month. There is no separate marketing retainer, and we do not take on visibility-only clients.