Practical AI for Lancashire businesses

Less admin. More time for the work your team is good at.

We sit with your team, find where the hours go and build AI to do that work, on your own accounts. Then we stay on and keep it running, month by month.

Free call. No sales pitch. If we can't help, we'll tell you.

✓ Tested on our own business first     ✓ Rolling monthly, no lock-in     ✓ You own everything we build

Routine jobs taken off your plate

The boring jobs, done properly

These are the sorts of jobs we hand to AI. Every one runs at our own business, The Out Barn, today.

The inbox

Sorted every morning, with the important ones flagged and replies drafted for you to check.

Follow-ups and quotes

Enquiries get chased on time and quotes are drafted from your own prices.

Reviews

Every Google review gets a reply that sounds like you.

Social Media

Written, scheduled and posted without anyone remembering to do it.

Bookkeeping

Transactions matched and coded in Xero, ready for your accountant.

Customer messages

Routine guest and customer questions answered quickly, any hour.

Things in the building

Kit switched on and off from your bookings calendar.

Spend

Subscriptions and costs checked so you stop paying for what you don't use.

Not on the list? That's what the audit is for.

How it works

Four steps, and you can stop after any of them

01

A chat

A short, honest conversation about your business and what's taking your team's time. If we can't help, we'll say so and point you elsewhere.

02

Workflow Audit

We sit down with the people who actually do the jobs, not just the boss, and follow the work from start to finish. Then we write up where the hours go, which jobs are worth handing over and which aren't, and what it should save. We build one working demo of the worst job so you can see it run before you decide anything. You keep the write-up whether or not you carry on with us.

03

Build and train

We build the jobs from the audit in order, biggest saving first, on your own accounts and the tools you already pay for where we can. Your team learns to use each one as it goes live, so nothing lands on them cold.

04

We look after it

Tools change, prices change, suppliers change. Each month we fix anything that's stopped working, build the next job on the list, and send you a one-page report of what ran and what it saved. When something breaks or you're stuck, you ring us.

We start with your people, not the software.

Built on leading AI

The AI tools you already know

Logos for ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and Grok

Pricing

Simple pricing. No lock‑in.

Start with the audit. Only carry on if the numbers stack up.

Workflow Audit

£1,000, fixed

• Interviews with the people doing the work
• A written list of jobs worth handing over, ranked by time saved
• One working demo of the worst job
• Yours to keep, whether or not you carry on

If we can't find at least 5 hours a week we could take off your team, the audit is free. If you carry on with us, the £1,000 comes off your monthly support.

Monthly support

£ Discussed

One price, everything included:

• Building the jobs from your audit, starting with the one that saves the most time
• Training your team on each one as it goes live
• Training days at The Out Barn and visits to your business, as needed
• Fixes when anything stops working
• A one-page report each month on what ran and what it saved
• Help on call when you're stuck

Rolling monthly. 30 days' notice. No lock-in. Everything we build is on your accounts and stays yours.

What is the admin costing you?

Move the sliders to match your team. We'll show what the time we take off them is worth.

A full working week is 37.5 hours.
Each person you add saves the same hours a week.
Worth over a year
Per week
Per month
Hours back per year

An estimate, not a quote. Based on salary only (no employer's NI or pension), a 37.5-hour week and 46 working weeks a year.

(function(){ var W=46,H=37.5,P=52; function g(id){return document.getElementById(id);} function gbp(n){return '£'+Math.round(n).toLocaleString('en-GB');} function run(){ var s=+g('ofc-sal').value,h=+g('ofc-hrs').value,p=+g('ofc-ppl').value; var wk=h*p*s/(P*H); g('ofc-salv').textContent=gbp(s); g('ofc-hrsv').textContent=h+(h===1?' hr':' hrs'); g('ofc-pplv').textContent=p; g('ofc-week').textContent=gbp(wk); g('ofc-month').textContent=gbp(wk*W/12); g('ofc-year').textContent=gbp(wk*W); g('ofc-hyear').textContent=Math.round(h*p*W).toLocaleString('en-GB')+' hrs'; g('ofc-who').textContent=p===1?'for one person':'across '+p+' people'; } ['ofc-sal','ofc-hrs','ofc-ppl'].forEach(function(id){g(id).addEventListener('input',run);}); run(); })();

Proof: The Out Barn

We tried it on our own business first

The Out Barn at Clough Bottom is our family's venue on a 200-acre private estate in the Ribble Valley. Before we offered this to anyone else, we ran it on ourselves.AI now sorts our inbox, follows up couples and drafts their quotes, replies to our Google reviews, schedules our social posts, keeps the books in Xero, answers Airbnb guest messages, and switches the bar fridges on and off from the bookings calendar. It has also helped us cut spend we didn't need.None of it runs itself for ever. We check it, fix it and improve it every month. That's exactly what we'll do for you.

Training

Training that sticks

Most AI training gets forgotten within a week. Slides, generic prompts, nothing actually changes on Monday morning.Ours is built around your own work. As each job goes live, we show the people using it how it works, what to check and where not to trust it. When it helps, we'll bring your team to The Out Barn for a day away from the office, with exclusive use, proper food from our own kitchen and nowhere to hide from the conversation.You can also book a training day on its own. Up to 20 people, your team only.

Who we are

A family business, training teams for 30 years

Henry Backhouse

Henry Backhouse

Trained as a mechanical engineer and spent five years at Jaguar Land Rover stripping waste out of press production lines. In 2017 I took over the family training venue and applied the same mindset. Now I help other businesses get the same results from AI.

Amy Profile

Amy Backhouse

I've spent 15 years leading client services at agencies including Fat Media, CTI, Dept and Reason, sorting out messy processes. I now use AI every day in a corporate workplace, so I know what it takes to bring it into a bigger team properly. I'm fussy about detail and I write things down so anyone on the team can follow them. That's how the tools we build fit the way you work and don't add more admin.

FAQ

Things people ask us

What happens on the free call?

A short, honest conversation about your business: your team, your current tools and what's prompted you to look at AI now. If we think we can help, we'll suggest the audit. If we can't, we'll say so and usually point you somewhere that can.

What does the Workflow Audit cost?

£1,000, fixed. If we can't find at least 5 hours a week we could take off your team, it's free. If you carry on with us, the £1,000 comes off your monthly support.

Do I have to sign up for monthly support?

No. The audit stands on its own and the write-up is yours to keep. If the numbers don't justify carrying on, we'll tell you.

Why monthly support and not a one-off project?

When we started we thought we'd build something, hand it over and walk away. Running our own business on it taught us otherwise. The tools change every few months and somebody needs to keep an eye on them. So we stay on, month by month.

Am I locked in?

No. It's rolling monthly with 30 days' notice. Everything is built on your own accounts, so if you leave, it all stays with you.

What happens to our data?

Everything is set up on your own accounts, so your data stays with you. Before anything is built, we agree which tools are suitable for which jobs.

What tools do you use?

The simplest ones that will do the job properly, and the ones you already pay for where possible. We avoid a pile of new subscriptions on principle. If you already use ChatGPT, Copilot or Gemini, we can work with those.

Will you tell us not to use AI?

Yes, if that's the right answer. Sometimes the fix is cutting a step or changing how a job is done. We'd rather tell you that than sell you something that won't pay for itself.

How do you work out what it saves?

We time the job before and after, using your own numbers. If we don't know something, we say so rather than guess.

Who is it for?

Owners and managers of local businesses, roughly 10 to 50 people, who know AI matters but don't want to bet the farm working out how.

Do you come to us?

Yes. Audits happen at your place, and we visit as often as the work needs. Training can be at your site or at The Out Barn.

Find out what's eating your team's week

Twenty minutes, no sales pitch. If we can't help, we'll tell you.

Optimise Flow · The Out Barn at Clough Bottom, Ribble Valley, Lancashire
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© 2026 Optimise Flow. All rights reserved.

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Optimise Flow · The Out Barn at Clough Bottom, Ribble Valley, Lancashire
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© 2026 Optimise Flow

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Enquiry received

Thanks, we've got it

We'll be in touch within 48 hours, usually sooner, to book your free 20-minute call. It's a straight conversation about your business. If we're not the right fit, we'll say so.

What happens next

  1. We read what you've sent and have a look at your business, so we don't waste your time on the call.
  2. We get in touch by email or phone to find a time that suits you.
  3. We talk it through. Where the time goes, what could change, and whether an audit is worth it.

Did you know? This website was built by Claude, an AI, working from our brief. It wrote the code, the savings calculator and the icons. We steered it and checked every word. That's how we work with clients too: the AI does the heavy lifting, and people stay in charge.

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