AI deployment · UK businesses £20M to £100M

We embed AI into your operations to cut cost and manual work.

We learn how your teams really work, then connect AI to the finance, sales and operations systems you already run. Repetitive work gets done automatically, checked, and signed off by your people. Lower cost, fewer errors and faster decisions, with no new platform to buy.

What changes: the weekly trading reportThe same report your leadership meeting runs on. Half the steps, one reviewer, ready before the meeting starts. Illustrative example, multi-channel retailer
TODAY Done by hand
Export from e-commerce Export from tills Export from warehouse Paste into spreadsheet Fix mismatches by hand Chase stores for answers Write commentary Send to leadership
WITH OPTIMISE LABS Done for you
Data collected and reconciled Exceptions flagged with reasons Commentary drafted Leader approves and sends
STEPS
8 → 4
PEOPLE NEEDED
3 → 1 reviewer
REPORT READY
Wednesday → Monday 7am
CONFLICTING SPREADSHEETS
4 → 0
FROM OUR LATEST ENGAGEMENT · LUXURY FASHION RETAIL
12
business systems mapped end to end
760,899
historic sales records checked to the penny
1,200+
automated checks on the numbers leadership sees
0
existing systems replaced
WATCH · 100 SECONDS

See how we find what's holding back your profit, then build a system around your business.

The problem, how we find your constraints, what we'd build for you, and how we work together.

Sound onProduct shown with sample figuresBook a free profit check
01 / Sound familiar?

A £20M business shouldn't still run on spreadsheets.

We work with managing directors, finance directors and operations directors at UK businesses turning over £20M to £100M. They know the business could run leaner, but don't have an in-house team to make AI work for them. Most recognise at least two of these.

.01

Reports take days to compile

By the time leadership sees the numbers, they're already out of date.

.02

Your systems disagree

Two systems give two answers to the same question, and nobody's sure which to trust.

.03

Knowledge sits with one person

When they're off, the process stops. Nothing is written down.

.04

No clear plan for AI

The board is asking, and the tools you've bought haven't moved the numbers.

02 / Why it happens

Why the AI you've bought hasn't fixed it.

Most mid-sized businesses have bought AI tools by now. Very few can point to a result in the P&L. The tools aren't the problem. They were added on top of the business, instead of being built into how the work actually gets done. Three things usually stand in the way:

.01
Tools bought before the problem was defined
Everyone has a licence, but nobody decided which process it should change. So plenty of experimenting, and nothing runs differently.
.02
Nobody has mapped how the work really gets done
The real process lives in the heads of the people who've done it for years, exceptions and all. AI can't improve a process nobody has written down.
.03
Your systems don't talk to each other
So people rekey data between them, reconcile by hand, and nobody is sure which number is right.

The fix isn't another tool. It's building AI into how the work actually gets done, on the systems you already have.

See how it works
03 / The solution

We don't add another system. We make the ones you have work together.

Your existing systems stay exactly as they are. We add a layer that connects them and does the manual work your team does today: collecting data, checking it, and preparing the output. A person approves anything that matters, and the results go back into the systems your team already uses.

YOUR SYSTEMS
(unchanged)
ERP Finance E-commerce Point of sale CRM Warehouse
OPTIMISE LABS LAYER
(added)
Collect
Pulls data from every system
Reconcile
Checks sources against each other
Prepare
AI drafts and flags, only where judgement is needed
Record
Every action logged so you can see what happened
YOUR TEAM
(in control)
Approves what matters
Nothing important is actioned without sign-off
Works in familiar tools
Results land back in the systems they already use
04 / How we work

Three steps. You see proof before each one.

We never ask you to commit to the whole thing upfront. Each step produces something you can judge on its own, and you decide whether to carry on.

1

Audit: find where the time and money go

We spend time with the people doing the work and map every step, handoff and exception. Then we show you where automation will pay back, where it won't, and what each opportunity is worth.

YOU RECEIVEA map of how the work runs today and a ranked list of opportunities, each with its expected return.
2

Evaluate: prove it works on your data

Before anything touches your live business, we test it against real past cases your team has already handled. You see how often it gets the same answer your best people would, and what happens when it isn't sure.

YOU RECEIVEA test report showing accuracy, where it falls short, and how those cases are handled.
3

Deploy: go live one step at a time

It goes live on top of your existing systems in stages, taking on more only as it proves itself. Your team is trained to run it, and we report results against the targets agreed at the start.

Test
Runs alongside
You approve
Live
YOU RECEIVEA working system with a full record of what it does, measured against cost, risk and revenue.
↻ Then the next process Once one process is fixed, the next bottleneck becomes obvious. Each round is quicker because the groundwork is already done.
05 / Judgement

We only use AI where it earns its place.

Most steps in a process are predictable, and simple automation handles them reliably and cheaply. AI is reserved for the steps that need judgement, like explaining a figure or drafting a summary. A person signs off wherever the risk calls for it. The result costs less to run, makes fewer mistakes and is easier to trust.

Example: who does what in the weekly trading report
STEPHANDLED BY
Pull sales from every channel Automation
Reconcile stock across systems Automation
Explain unusual movements AI
Draft leadership commentary AI
Review and sign off Person
Publish and log Automation
06 / Where we start

Whole processes automated end to end, not single tasks.

These are the processes where mid-sized businesses lose the most time to manual work, and where we most often start.

Finance operations

Invoice matching and approval
Reconciliations and month-end
Cash and margin reporting

Leadership reporting

One reconciled view across systems
Commentary drafted automatically
Every figure traced to source

Stock and operations

Stock reconciled across channels
Returns routed back into inventory
Exceptions flagged early

Revenue and customer

Customer data joined up
Marketing spend and attribution
Enquiry handling and follow-up
07 / Outcomes

Every project is judged on cost, risk and growth.

We agree the targets with you before we start and report against them after go-live, so the value shows up in your numbers, not just in a demo.

.01

Lower operating cost

Manual hours taken out of repetitive work, so overhead holds flat as the business grows.

.02

Reduced risk

Fewer errors, less dependence on single people, and a clear record of every decision.

.03

Revenue growth

Faster decisions, better use of spend, and teams freed for work that drives revenue.

08 / Case study · Luxury fashion retail

One version of the truth for a multi-channel luxury brand.

A London luxury brand selling through its own stores in the UK, Europe and the US, global e-commerce and wholesale. The founder was handing over to a new managing director, and leadership reporting was rebuilt by hand in Excel every week.

Download the full case study (PDF)
12
source systems mapped, none replaced
66
leadership figures traced back to their source
760,899
historic sales records checked to the penny
12.8 % pts
gap between two systems' figures for the same store, found in the audit
THE CHALLENGE

Leadership reports were rebuilt by hand every week from twelve systems that didn't talk to each other. Stock only matched up at stock take, finance had no link to sales, and teams didn't agree on what counted as a sale. Key knowledge sat with one or two people.

WHAT WE DID

We worked alongside finance, technology, merchandising, marketing and retail leaders. We traced every figure to its source, got each definition agreed in writing, and refined a working prototype with each department over thirty-plus versions. Historic data was moved across and checked to the penny.

THE RESULT

One reporting platform, being deployed into the client's own UK cloud behind their own sign-in. It replaces hand-built weekly reporting with one agreed version of every number, giving the new MD a clear view of every store, channel and category. Fourteen of sixteen views built, with a leadership beta from October 2026.

09 / Why Optimise Labs

Advice and delivery from the same team.

Consultancies tend to advise and leave. Software vendors sell you another platform to learn. We do both halves: understand how your business runs, then build the solution into it.

LARGE CONSULTANCY
SOFTWARE VENDOR
OPTIMISE LABS
Starts from how your business really works
Workshops
No
Yes
Works with the systems you already run
Varies
Often replaces them
Yes
Builds and deploys, not just advises
Rarely
Their product only
Yes
Proven on your own data before going live
No
Generic demos
Yes
Fixed fee to start
Day rates
Licence and setup
Yes
You own what is built
Varies
No
Yes
10 / Commitments

What you can hold us to.

You own everything we build
Code, data, documentation and designs are yours, on standard technology any competent developer can take over.
A fixed fee for the audit
You know the cost before we start, and the audit findings are yours whatever you decide next.
Nothing goes live untested
Every system is tested against your own past cases first, and you see the results.
We'll tell you what not to automate
If the return isn't there or the risk is too high, we say so and leave it alone.
11 / Security and governance

Built to pass your due diligence.

Hosting
Inside your own cloud wherever possible, behind your existing single sign-on
Data protection
Designed around UK GDPR, working with your data protection lead from day one
Access
Read-only by default; write access only where a workflow needs it, approved by you
Audit trail
Every action, input and decision logged and reviewable
AI spend
Usage caps agreed with you, with the most cost-effective model used for each task
12 / Questions

What leadership teams ask us first.

Do we need to change or replace any systems?

No. We deploy on top of what you already run. Your systems stay the record of truth.

Where do we start?

With a fixed-fee audit of one area of the business. You get a map of how the work runs today and a ranked list of opportunities, each with its expected return, before committing to any build.

What does it cost?

The audit is a fixed fee, agreed upfront and based on the size of the area we look at. Build work is priced per process once the audit has shown what it is worth, so you can weigh cost against expected return before you commit.

How quickly will we see results?

An audit usually runs over a few weeks, depending on the area. Its findings include a timeline for the first process, and we always start with the opportunity that pays back fastest.

How much of our team’s time does it take?

The audit needs real time with the people who do the work. After that, involvement is mostly reviewing results and approving each step to live.

How do we know it’s working?

Nothing goes live until it has been tested against your own past cases. Once live, it’s measured against the cost, risk and revenue targets agreed at the start.

What happens if we stop working with you?

You keep everything. It’s built on standard technology in your environment and documented so your team or another developer can run it.

Which AI models do you use?

Whichever is best for each task. We’re not tied to one provider, so you benefit as models improve and costs fall.

Next step

Find out where AI will pay back in your business.

Tell us a little about your business and we'll arrange a 30-minute call about your operation, your systems and the problem you most want solved.

.01Tell us where time, cost or growth is being lost
.02Get an honest view of where AI fits, and where it doesn't
.03If it's a fit, receive a fixed-fee audit proposal
Not ready to talk? Download the case study first

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