Bringing freelancers in and out
Contract, details, folder access, first brief, then the same steps in reverse when the project ends. One form can start all of it, so nothing depends on anyone’s memory.
Business automation consultant · Manchester (remote)
A business automation consultant for Manchester founders, working remotely.
Agencies and studios in Greater Manchester run on small teams and trusted freelancers. I find the admin that grows around them, and build the systems that take it off your hands.
Anne PeireFounder of 10PM, London
At a glance
- Who
- Anne Peire, founder of 10PM
- Where
- Working remotely with firms in Manchester and across the UK
- What
- Business process automation for founder-led firms and professional services
- Where it starts
- A free conversation, then a £350 Process Review or a broader Review from £650
Working with Manchester
Small teams, a lot of freelancers, and the admin in between
Greater Manchester has the largest concentration of creative businesses outside London, and MediaCity alone houses over 250 of them, according to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. The same plan estimates that freelancers make up around 30% of the sector’s workforce.
That shape has a cost. Every freelancer needs a brief, a contract, access to the right folders and a way to get paid. Every client needs a report. When the founder is the one holding it all together, those jobs land in the evening.
I am based in London and I work with Manchester founders remotely: video call, screen share, and the tools you already use. No travel fee, and no waiting for a day I happen to be in the city.
Where I would start
Three places I would look first in a Manchester agency
Not a menu. These are the patterns I would check before anything else. The Business Process Review tells us which of them matter in your business, and by how much.
Monthly client reporting
Numbers pulled from the same four places and pasted into the same deck every month. The data can arrive on its own; your time goes on what it means.
Retainers and project billing
Invoices rebuilt by hand from timesheets or retainer schedules, then chased by email. Billing can start from the work already recorded.
More detail by audience: founders & small teams professional services firms architects consultants agency founders
Also working with founders in: London Birmingham Leeds Bristol
The work
What a business automation consultant actually does
The title covers a lot of ground, so here is the specific version.
I look at how your business really runs, not how the process document says it runs. I find the tasks that happen often and need no judgement, put a number on what they cost you over a year, and then build the systems that remove or shrink them.
I do not sell strategy decks or tool recommendations. What I hand over is a working system, tested against your real cases, documented, and operated by your team without me.
The founders I meet are not short of ambition. They are short of the hours that ambition needs.
Evidence
What this has changed
for real businesses
≈12 → <1hours of admin a month, at a payroll firm serving around 200 client companies
Premium Paye
Premium Paye is a payroll firm in France. Its founder reported that combined invoicing, direct debits and onboarding went from around twelve hours in a busy month with new clients to under one hour now. This is cross-sector experience, separate from the local examples above.
Read the case studyBackground
Why I see this pattern quickly
I spent more than fifteen years in B2B technology, including leadership roles at Fountain and Soldo, and time at Verizon after it acquired the company I was with. Before 10PM I also ran my own service business, an after-school nanny agency in London, and automated its hours, invoicing and payments myself.
My framework for the hire-or-automate decision ran as a full-page article in London Business Matters, the magazine of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in the July and August 2026 issue.
In practice
Connect the work you already record
How it works
From your first question
to a working solution.
We agree the right depth of discovery first. Each paid stage has its own deliverables and fixed fee; you decide whether to continue after it.
First, a free 15-minute conversation to understand the challenge and agree the appropriate next step.
Understand your business
We explore the process, what you want to achieve and how your team prefers to work. I challenge the proposed solution if the underlying problem is different.
You receiveA clear process map, written recommendations and an agreed priority.
Check the tools and feasibility
During separately scoped Process Design, I check the connections, permissions, costs and exceptions that could affect the solution.
You receiveA documented workflow, feasibility findings and the requirements for a reliable build.
Agree the scope and price
Before implementation, we agree what will be built, the timeline, responsibilities and how we will check that it works.
You receiveA written proposal with a fixed build price, acceptance checks and any ongoing costs.
Build and test
I build the agreed solution and test normal cases, exceptions and approvals. Your team reviews it against the checks we agreed.
You receiveA working solution, a demonstration and the agreed checks completed before handover.
Document, train and hand over
I show your team how to use the solution, what to monitor and how to handle exceptions. We clarify ownership and support.
You receivePractical instructions, a walkthrough and clear support terms so your team can run it.
One recurring processFocused Process Review · £350Several connected prioritiesBusiness Process Review · from £650
Discovery, Process Design and implementation each have an agreed scope and fee. You choose the appropriate discovery service; buying both is not required. Testing, documentation and team handover are included in the agreed implementation scope.
Before we talk
Questions founders ask
before hiring anyone.
Something else on your mind?
Email me directly.
Do I need to know what to automate before we talk?
No. Bring a problem, a frustration or a part of the business that takes too much of your attention. Working out which change is worth making is part of my job. Sometimes the answer is to simplify a process before automating anything.
Do I need to be based in Manchester?
No. The work happens remotely, over video call and inside the systems you already use. I am based in London, and location has not mattered for any client relationship so far. What matters is whether the pattern, expertise being consumed by work that does not need it, fits your business.
My team is mainly freelancers. Does this still apply?
Yes, and often more so. Freelancers come and go, so the steps to bring someone in, give them access and pay them repeat more often than they would with a permanent team. Those repeating steps are the first thing I look at.
We are a two-person studio. Is that too small?
No. The smaller the team, the more of the admin lands on the founder. The Business Process Review starts from £650, and if I do not think the numbers work for you, I will say so on the first call.
What does the fixed price cover?
Each paid phase has its own agreed scope and fee. The implementation proposal follows Process Design and sets out the build, the testing, the documentation, the timeline and the handover. Software subscriptions and any ongoing support are identified separately. If the scope changes, we agree the extra work and its price before it starts.
Your business
Where is your week going?
Fifteen minutes, no charge, no pitch. Bring one process that annoys you and we will look at it together.
15 minutes · No charge
Prefer to write? anne@10pm.works