We plan, build and deliver business operating systemsPowered by AI

We help UK businesses run leaner and grow faster. We map how you work, then build the AI systems around it.

Saracen Fire Protection
ALT-Group
CostCutters UK
Seated Furniture
Buddy Bag Foundation
Touchwood
  • Free AI consultations
  • Process mapping sessions
  • Proposals & roadmaps
  • Design, build & delivery
  • ERP solutions
  • Sales systems
  • Shopify
  • Automations
  • AI agents
  • Brand systems
  • Websites
  • AI content apps
  • Image & video generation
  • Business videos
  • Social media content
  • Product images & video
  • Data cleansing
Sound familiar?

Your team’s drowning in manual admin, re-keying the same data between systems that don’t talk.

The same numbers live in five spreadsheets and none of them agree.

You’re waiting weeks on an agency for content, and paying agency rates for it.

Your brand rules sit in a PDF nobody opens, and off-brand work keeps slipping through.

Consultancy

Business first.
AI second.

A simple, proven process, from understanding your business to scaling the systems that run it.

  • Process mapping how you actually work
  • Identification where you lose time
  • Plan & build around you, not a template
  • Integrate with your current tools
  • Delivery & support beyond launch
  • Enhancements & scale grow as you do

Delivering solutions for clients

Saracen Fire Protection
ALT-Group
CostCutters UK
Seated Furniture
Buddy Bag Foundation
Touchwood

Operations and efficiency

The systems that run the business day to day.

  • ERP and internal tools
  • Odoo and Salesforce builds
  • Automated workflows
  • Reporting and dashboards
  • Process mapping

Sales and operations

Turning activity into booked, won work.

  • Automated outbound
  • SDR cockpits
  • Lead scoring and enrichment
  • AI-personalised outreach
  • Sales agents

Creative and marketing

On-brand content and reach, at volume.

  • Brand identity and content apps
  • Websites
  • Video and image automation
  • Product and business videos
  • SEO and GEO
The people behind it

Three specialisms, one team.

We hear the same worries from businesses every week. If any of these sound like you, you’re exactly who we work with, and there’s nothing to be nervous about.

We help businesses that are:

  • Curious about AI, unsure where to start
  • On stretched budgets, with lean teams
  • No in-house technical or AI expertise
  • Wary of AI or complex tools
  • Ready for AI but need a clear plan
Mark Blake, Business Strategy & Systems

Mark Blake

Business Strategy & Systems

25 years building, scaling and advising businesses at C-suite and MD level. He leads strategy: working out what a business genuinely needs before anything gets built.

Tom, Creative & AI

Tom

Creative & AI

Leads design and product. Brand and motion work on an AI-native production stack, turning strategy into things you can see and use.

Gabe, Sales & People

Gabe

Sales & People

Leads sales and the people side, looking after clients from the first conversation and making sure every engagement is a genuine partnership.

What actually changes once we’re in

80%+gain in process efficiency across core operations
20+ hrsa week handed back from manual work
94%cheaper than agency content rates
100+on-brand posts produced a month
How we work

We start small, prove it works, then build from there. It is a partnership, not a one-off project.

Mark Blake

Mark Blake · Founder, Up-Stride

Discover your AI potential

Book a free consultation.

A free session to map where AI can take your business, and the plan to get there.

You leave with:

  • AI insights for your business
  • An AI roadmap
  • A proposal to work from
Mark BlakeTomGabe
Meet the team you’ll work with
Book a free business discovery meeting

Or email us: hello@up-stride.co.uk

From realising what’s possible to full solution scaling across the business.

01

Crawl

Understand

  • Discovery and mapping
  • Highest-return moves
  • A clear written plan
  • Honest, jargon-free advice
02

Walk

Build, test, prove

  • A focused first project
  • Ship in weeks, not quarters
  • Prove value with numbers
  • Refine from real results
03

Run

Scale and optimise

  • Roll out business-wide
  • Optimise and extend
  • Ongoing strategic partner
  • New ideas as you grow
Case studies

Once businesses see the potential, a whole new world unlocks.

Real results from real businesses. Each one started as a problem, not a piece of technology.

Up-Stride · SDR Cockpit

Client: Up-StrideBuilt in 5 days

An AI outreach cockpit that runs research, calling and booking from one screen.

Problem

Turning raw leads into booked conversations consistently, with reps lacking full context and scripts that never improved.

Solution

An AI cockpit with lead scoring, tailored call briefs, one-click dialling and a self-improving script and coaching engine.

  • Research, call and book in one screen
  • Scripts coach themselves over time
  • Faster ramp for every new rep

Fire safety and building compliance

Client: Saracen Fire Protection

A bespoke system that turned slow, manual certification into a same-day process, and unlocked contracts they couldn’t bid for before.

Problem

3 to 5 day certificate turnaround, disconnected tools and manual paperwork, locked out of bigger NHS and FM contracts.

Solution

A bespoke Odoo ERP with a fire-door asset registry, mobile inspection forms for engineers, and a full ISO 9001 framework built in.

  • Same-day certificate turnaround
  • Automatic invoicing and self-service portal
  • NHS and large FM contracts unlocked

Solar farm construction

Client: ALT-Group

A mobile-first platform giving one live picture of every solar project, from site to office, replacing disconnected tools and manual handoffs.

Problem

Field teams, project managers, safety and accounts all on disconnected tools, with no single picture of project status.

Solution

A mobile-first project platform covering the whole lifecycle, with live two-way Odoo sync, so field updates flow straight to the office.

  • One source of truth from review to handover
  • Live site and office visibility
  • Real-time progress, no chasing

Ad-tech workspace

Client: Confidential client
3 to 1tools, 0% ad-spend cut

Three separate ad tools brought into one workspace for creative, competitor research and reporting, with no cut taken on ad spend.

Problem

Separate tools for creative, research and reporting, paying a cut of ad spend to platforms, with context lost switching between dashboards.

Solution

Built-in AI ad generation, live competitor intelligence and automated Meta (Facebook and Instagram) reporting on one screen.

  • Scroll-stopping creative on demand
  • Full competitor visibility
  • Reports that write themselves
  • Three tools become one, 0% of ad spend taken

Domestic-abuse refuge charity

Client: Confidential client
1 hr to 30 secper application

A secure grant platform that cut hardship-grant processing from an hour to seconds per application, with a full audit trail for trustees.

Problem

Hardship grants processed by hand, manual receipt checking and approvals, no clear audit trail for trustees.

Solution

A secure end-to-end grant platform with AI receipt validation, dual approval, a visual workflow board and a live finance dashboard.

  • Full transparency for trustees and funders
  • More families settled into safe homes
  • Rated 5.0 out of 5 for ease of use

Online retail growth engine

Client: CostCutters UK
4 to 1data sources unified

Four systems unified into one commercial cockpit, scoring 41,000+ trade accounts and built to drive towards a £20M revenue target.

Problem

Core systems all siloed, no unified view of 41,000+ trade accounts, reps prioritising on gut feel rather than data.

Solution

One unified customer record, a 0 to 100 score that tiers every account automatically, and a look-alike engine that surfaces prospects resembling the best customers.

  • One cockpit for the whole commercial team
  • Every account scored and prioritised
  • AI call briefs and one-click dialling
  • Built to drive towards a £20M revenue target

Bespoke content apps

Client: HYP

A content app that generates on-brand product, lifestyle and social visuals on demand, trained on the brand’s own rules so everything’s ready to use.

Problem

Brand rules living in PDFs rather than in the tools, content teams waiting on agencies, off-brand assets slipping through.

Solution

A custom app with the brand rules built in and an AI assistant that proposes updates you apply in one click, so the team can self-serve on-brand content.

  • Generate on-brand visuals every time
  • Product, lifestyle and social content
  • Brand rules built in, finished assets out
  • One-click brand updates

Discover your AI potential

Book a free consultation.

A free session to map where AI can take your business, and the plan to get there.

You leave with:

  • AI insights for your business
  • An AI roadmap
  • A proposal to work from
Mark BlakeTomGabe
Meet the team you’ll work with

Or email us: hello@up-stride.co.uk