automation / intelligence / infrastructure

AI workflow automation for UK SMEs that need it to work.

I'm an AI consultant and builder. I design, ship, support and advise on AI systems end to end: operational workflows, internal tools, enquiry handling, reporting, and the systems that take repetitive work off your team. The goal is simple: systems you own, that save measurable time, and that you can trust after the install.

Building online businesses since 2004 Ran an apparel brand to 3,000+ orders a day at peak Bristol studio · plain English
Neil (Ted) Ratcliffe, founder of Expedient AI, on the coast near Bristol
Neil (Ted) Ratcliffe · Bristol · about
E-commerce systems

Most AI consultants haven't run a shop. I have.

Before the AI work: an apparel brand built to £6m a year and 3,000+ orders a day at peak, then sold. Since then, for my own streetwear label, I didn't just run the shop, I rebuilt the machinery behind it.

The storefront

A shop I built, not rented.

The layer most stores pay Shopify for monthly: product, cart, design sessions. Mine is my own build, hooked up to the same checkout rails.

The designer

Customers design it. The server renders it.

An in-browser cap designer with its own thread-colour engine. Every order renders to a print-ready file and flows into the Printful pipeline automatically.

The numbers

Attribution and profit, in-house.

A Triple Whale alternative built for my own stores: every order traced to its source, with real fees, VAT and FX in the margin maths.

See the brand live at idlestate.co · Talk about your store

How it works

Bring the bottleneck. I'll map the system.

A practical 20-minute conversation about where automation genuinely helps, then a fixed scope. Three ways to work together:

01 · Build

End-to-end AI systems for your operations.

Customer service, bookings, follow-ups, quoting, reporting, internal dashboards. I design, ship, hand over. You own the system, the data, the roadmap. No platform lock-in. Typically six to eight weeks, fixed price.

02 · Advise

AI consulting before you commit.

Where AI helps, where it doesn't. Honest reads on tools, build vs buy, and sequencing, including a clear "not yet" when that's the right answer. Day rate, fixed scope.

03 · Enable

Training that turns a system into a habit.

Training and support so your team actually uses the systems after launch. Runbooks, prompt standards, lightweight governance. Monthly, off when you don't need it.

discover → map → build → validate → deploy → improve

Who you're working with

Run by an operator, not a sales team.

Friends call him Ted. He has been building businesses online since 2004, starting with e-commerce: an apparel brand grown to £6m a year and 3,000+ orders a day at peak, then sold. He also co-runs Magic Dolphin, a Shopify-focused growth agency, which is where the ads, attribution and profit-tracking side of this work lives.

Much of that was operational: factories, warehouses, forty staff at peak, and the daily reality of processes that break the moment nobody's watching. He moved into AI because he was the customer first, tired of tools that demo well and disappear when the workload lands.

That background is the difference. Proposals come in plain English, not vendor-speak. Systems get built around how your team actually works, including the messy parts. And if AI isn't the right answer for your problem, you'll hear that straight.

observable
approval-aware
integrated
maintainable
measured
Start anywhere

Three ways in, none of them a wall.

Do the rough maths first if you like. The numbers can be approximate; the point is the order of magnitude, and whether it is worth a conversation.

What is the busywork costing you?

Full ROI calculator for the detailed version.

Free · 20 minutes

The diagnostic.

Bring one workflow that eats time. You leave with a yes or no on AI for it, a rough cost range if you want help, and one idea you can run yourself.

Book the call

£149 · fixed scope

The one-page audit.

A plain-English read of your map-pack position and local search. No retainers, fixed price. Trades businesses often start here.

See the audit

Free · no login

The tools.

AI Council argues your next decision through six perspectives. The ROI calculator sizes the busywork in your operation.

Open the tools

Straight answers.

What does Expedient AI actually build?

Practical AI systems for UK small and medium businesses: workflow automation, enquiry handling, CRM and process integrations, internal tools and reporting. Every system is designed, shipped and handed over for you to own, with no platform lock-in.

How much does AI automation cost for a small business?

It depends on the process, not on a package price. Work starts with a free 20-minute discovery call to map where automation genuinely pays off, and a clear proposal follows in plain English. If AI is not the right answer, you will be told straight.

Do we need technical staff to run the system?

No. Systems are built around how your team already works, with training, runbooks and support included so your people run them day to day. The goal is a system your team trusts, not one that needs a specialist on call.

Where is Expedient AI based?

Expedient AI is based in Bristol and works with small and medium businesses across the South West and the rest of the UK.

Twenty minutes. A short diagnostic.

Bring one workflow you'd like to improve. By the end of the call you'll have a clear yes or no on whether AI is genuinely worth it for that workflow, and a rough cost and time range if you want help shipping it.

Replies within one working day. What helps me help you: send one workflow, one sentence on what hurts about it, and a number (volume, hours lost, errors/week).

Book a chat