Alex Herd — Automation & AI Consultant · Ipswich, UK
I build the thing that stops it: a form or event trigger your team actually uses, wired into the systems you already have, running on your own accounts. Automation and AI where they earn their place, and a person still making the decisions.
Three ways in — from one process to a full system.
About
I'm a commercial operator with 13+ years in B2B sales, partnerships, recruitment and operations — and I've spent the last few years becoming genuinely technical, designing and shipping real automation and AI systems rather than just using them.
Because I've lived these workflows, I know where the time goes: messy handovers, repetitive admin loops and follow-ups that slip through the cracks. I run discovery, map the process, build it across the automation platforms, CRMs and integrations that fit, wire up the systems you already use through their APIs, add AI carefully where it genuinely helps, then test and iterate until it works in production. I build, not just advise.
Alongside automation I design and build websites and small web tools, and offer standalone consulting when you want a plan more than a build. I'm based in Ipswich and work across East Anglia and remotely UK-wide — on site when it helps, including at your desk with your systems.
Services
Outcome-led builds grounded in real delivery — not demos that never make it to production.
Forms, inboxes, spreadsheets, CRMs and docs connected so work moves itself to the right person — and nothing gets typed in twice.
Sites, landing pages, order forms and portals that feed your workflows instead of your inbox.
Lead capture, follow-up that actually happens, clean records, and the candidate admin that eats a recruiter's week.
Messy data cleaned and synced between systems, and AI put to work on the reading, sorting and drafting.
Portfolio
No invented client names, no fake metrics — just the shape of the work.
Aquajet Cleaning Equipment
Who it's for
Owner-managed firms, roughly 10–200 staff, where the work happens out there and the paperwork happens back here.
Job sheets, timesheets and site paperwork captured once on a phone, not re-typed on Monday morning.
Order forms, account pricing, quotes and stock requests that arrive priced, validated and ready.
Mileage, expenses, van stock and completed-job reporting, collected at source and totted up automatically.
Registration, compliance and document chasing — the specialism behind 13+ years in the industry.
How it works
Six steps, no mystery. You see progress early, keep approval where it matters, and own it at the end.
Understand the team, the workflow and where the time and follow-up actually go.
Document current vs proposed workflow in plain English — including approvals and where a human stays in the loop — before building.
The simplest reliable version, using the right tools, with AI added carefully only where it earns its place.
Edge cases, data checks, permissions and safe failure — so it fails quietly and predictably, never loudly in production.
Docs, a walkthrough, completion checks and clear ownership so the team can run it confidently.
Monitoring, fixes and expansion into the next highest-value process as you grow.
Pricing
Start with a working prototype, build what pays for itself, then keep it running on a monthly plan.
£950 fixed Ten business days.
You bring me one process that's costing you time. I map how it actually works, build a working version of it, and you use it. At the end you get the prototype on a link and a written plan: what can and can't sensibly be automated, what's involved in running it for real, the risks, and a fixed price to build it.
The prototype runs on my infrastructure with sample data, covers the main path, and is switched off at the end of the ten days. Anything that goes live runs on your own accounts.
Credited in full against a build started within 60 days.
Book a prototypeEvery build is quoted as a fixed price before any work starts. Most land between £2,500 and £12,000 — the spread depends on how many systems are involved and what the process is actually costing you now. You'll have the number in writing before you commit to anything.
Three months of Cover is included in every build.
Once something is live it needs looking after. Pick the level of cover you want. Each plan includes everything in the one before it.
Three months of Cover is included in every build. After that it runs month to month — cancel any time, no notice.
The first three months is when the real edge cases surface. I'd rather be on hand for that than hand over a live system and walk away.
After the included three months you can simply stop. Fixes and small updates are then quoted as they come up.
Scroll the table sideways to see both plans.
| Plan | Cover £195/mo Most popular | Partner £1,250/mo |
|---|---|---|
| Monitoring and alerting | Included | Included |
| Monthly value report | Included | Included |
| Fixes after the warranty | Included | Included |
| Change work included | Not included | 8 hours a month |
| Response | 3 business days | 1 business day |
| Quarterly review and roadmap | Not included | Included |
| Priority on new builds | Not included | Included |
Running costs aren't included in the price — things like AI usage, automation platforms and third-party software subscriptions are billed to you directly by those providers. I help you choose, set up and connect everything, and build flows to keep those costs sensible.
Every price is fixed and agreed before work starts.
No VAT is charged. herdtech.io is not VAT-registered.
FAQ
The way in is a £950 working prototype — ten business days on one process, and you get the working version plus a written plan and a fixed price to build it. If you go ahead within 60 days, the £950 comes off the build in full. Builds start at £2,500, always with a fixed quote agreed before anything starts. If I don't think automation will pay for itself in your case, I'll say so on the free call.
Yes. I'm based in Ipswich and regularly work on site across East Anglia; plenty of projects also run perfectly over a couple of video calls.
Everything is built to fail safely and tell us when it needs attention. Every build includes three months of Cover, so monitoring and fixes are there from day one — most issues are sorted before you'd notice them. After that, staying on Cover or Partner keeps it that way; if you stop, fixes and small updates are quoted as they come up.
No. Three months of Cover is included in the build price, so you're not buying a plan to start with — you already have one. After that it runs month to month and you can stop whenever you like, no notice. That first stretch is when the real edge cases surface, and I'd rather be on hand for it.
Usually not — I build around what you already have. If a platform is genuinely needed (typically £20–25/month) I'll say so upfront, and it's billed to you directly by the provider.
I automate the admin around it — collecting applications and documents, and using AI to extract and structure the key details into a summary a recruiter can act on. The hiring decision always stays with a person; nothing auto-hires or auto-rejects.
Yes — targeted prospect lists with enrichment, segmentation and de-duplication, built from approved sources and APIs and handled responsibly, ready for your team's outreach.
Yes. A website form or enquiry can flow straight into your CRM, notify the right person, create a follow-up task and send a confirmation — no copy-pasting from an inbox.
Almost always. I build around your existing stack — CRM, forms, email, spreadsheets and so on — and only suggest adding something when it clearly pays off.
I build it. I can run the discovery and mapping, but the point is working systems in production — designed, built, tested and handed over, not a slide deck.
Ten business days on one process. A discovery call, a plain-English map of how the work actually flows, then a working version you can click through and use. It runs on my infrastructure with sample data and covers the main path, so it shows you the shape of the thing rather than being the finished system. You end up with the prototype on a link and a written plan — what can and can't sensibly be automated, what running it for real involves, the risks, and a fixed price to build it.
Smaller builds often land in a couple of weeks. Larger multi-system projects run longer and are delivered in phases so you see progress early. Either way the prototype gives you a realistic timeline in writing before you commit.
Yes. Workflows are built with GDPR, access control and sensible data retention in mind, with data processing agreements where appropriate.
On one, yes. I'm an n8n affiliate, so if you open an n8n Cloud account through a link I've sent you, n8n pays me a share of your subscription for the first year. It doesn't change what you pay. It doesn't change what I recommend either — plenty of what I build runs on Make, Zapier or whatever you're already paying for, and if that's the right answer for you, that's what I'll say.
Start with the free call. If it's still not obvious, the £950 prototype is designed for exactly that — you get a working version of the process and an honest written view of whether building it properly is worth the money. Go ahead within 60 days and the £950 comes off the build in full. The numbers either stack up or they don't — no pressure.
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Get in touch
I'll reply once with an honest take on whether it's worth automating, and we'll put a call in if it is. No obligation, no hard sell.
