AI & Digital Capability
You don't need to become a tech expert.
You just need someone in your corner who already is one.
AI is changing how businesses operate. Some of it is genuinely brilliant. A lot of it is noise. And almost none of the advice out there is written for people who are running a business, not a technology department.
That's where I come in.
With 30 years in marketing and over 20 specialising in digital, I've seen every tech wave arrive with enormous fanfare and watched most of them settle into something much more practical and useful. AI is no different. There are tools and approaches that will genuinely save you time and money. And there's a lot you can safely ignore.
My job is to help you tell the difference, and then make sure the right things actually happen.
What I can help you with
1. AI in Your Digital Marketing
You're already doing the hard work of running a business.
AI should be making your marketing easier, not giving you another thing to learn from scratch.
Creating better content, faster
Good content takes time, time most small business owners don't have.
AI tools can help you produce more of it, more consistently, without it sounding like it was written by a robot. (Yes, that bit matters. I'll make sure it still sounds like you.)
Smarter targeting and optimisation
Knowing what's working and what's quietly wasting your money is where AI can really earn its keep.
Better keyword research, smarter analysis of what your audience responds to, and clearer decisions about where to focus your effort and spend.
Planning your communication flows
Email sequences, follow-ups, social scheduling, customer journeys. The stuff that's easy to let slip when you're busy.
AI can help you map it, automate the right bits, and make sure the right message reaches the right person at the right time, without you having to do it manually every week.
2. AI in Your Business Operations
This is where most consultants stop. I don't.
Because for a lot of small businesses, the biggest time and money savings from AI aren't in the marketing. They're in the day-to-day running of the business, the stuff that quietly eats your week.
Finding information and actually understanding it
Market research, competitor analysis, industry reports, government guidance. There's no shortage of information out there. The problem is finding the right bits, making sense of them, and turning them into something useful.
AI is genuinely good at this, and I can show you how to use it without ending up more confused than when you started.
Better business planning
Got a decision to make and not sure where to start?
AI can help you stress-test ideas, structure your thinking, model different scenarios and spot the gaps in your plan before they become expensive mistakes.
Think of it as a very well-read sounding board that's available at 11pm when you're finally getting round to it.
Smoother, more efficient processes
Invoicing. Scheduling. Answering the same five customer questions over and over. Onboarding new clients. Writing briefs. Summarising meetings.
There are almost certainly things you do every week that AI could do faster, more consistently, and without you having to think about them. We'll find them. We'll fix them.
The result? Less time on the tedious stuff. More time on the work that only you can do.
How I work with you
Every business is different. So is every working relationship.
Some clients want to stay hands-on in certain areas and hand over others entirely. Some want to understand the detail before they decide. Some just want it sorted. All of that is fine, because I work the way that suits you, not the way that suits me.
What I won't do is take over things you're comfortable with, replace tools that are working, or make decisions without your sign-off. You stay in control of the things that matter to you. I handle the rest.
In practice, that usually means working alongside your existing teams, suppliers, platforms and partners to make things happen. You don't need to manage that process or understand the technical detail. I act as your advocate throughout, making sure the work gets delivered to your specification and your business requirements, in plain English, with no nasty surprises.
Think of it as having a digital director on your side, without the full-time price tag, and without losing control of the bits you want to keep
Why Me?
I've managed digital budgets up to £20 million a year, led teams of up to 38 people, and worked across agency, media owner and client-side roles at brands including Tesco, Microsoft, Wickes, the National Lottery and the Casual Dining Group.
I'm a Google Certified Professional and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. But more useful than any of that is the fact that I've been doing this long enough to know what actually works for businesses of every size, and what doesn't.
Past clients and colleagues have described me as someone who "Authentic, challenging preconceived perception, knowledgeable, and a pleasure to work with", "bold enough to challenge assumptions not backed up by data", and someone who "simplifies an often complex topic for the generalist, a rare trait".
That's what I bring to every business, regardless of size.
A note on how I approach new technology
I wrote my first computer program in BASIC at the age of 12. I've been fascinated by technology ever since, not for its own sake, but for what it makes possible.
I've watched businesses get swept up in every wave, from the early web to social media to apps to the metaverse, and I've watched the ones that approached it thoughtfully come out ahead every time. Not because they moved fastest, but because they moved smartest.
That's the approach I bring to AI. No hype. No unnecessary overhaul. Just an honest assessment of what will genuinely make your business better, and a plan to make it happen.