About
Office junior in 1989. Managing director by my thirties. Still doing the work.
I'm not a McKinsey grad with a fresh deck on "the future of work". I'm a UK operator who came up the long way round — through brokerages, boardrooms, two recessions and a credit crunch — and now spends his days helping owner-led businesses use AI without getting fleeced for it.
Why I built this
There's a wave of flashy consultants charging UK small businesses corporate money for advice that doesn't survive a wet Tuesday.
Owners get talked at, sold to, walked through a glossy deck — and walk away more confused, a bit nervous, and a few grand lighter. The advice rarely lands because the people giving it have never actually run a business through a bad month.
I have. More than once. So when I sit across the table from you, I'm not pattern-matching from a textbook. I'm thinking about your cashflow, your team capacity, the leads slipping through your CRM, the compliance risk you're quietly worrying about at 11pm.
I'd rather earn a good name across an industry than win a sale I shouldn't have made. Reputation compounds. Pressure tactics don't.
The long way round
Thirty-five years of actually doing it
The CV version. Skim it, skip it, or read the lot — your call.
1989 — 1997
Office junior → General Manager
Mortgage Advice Centre
Started at the bottom rung. Filing, phones, learning the trade by osmosis. Eight years later I was running the place — sourcing niche mortgage products, managing eight admin staff, and quietly building the broker network that would carry me through the next decade.
1997 — 2008
Director
Countrywide Mortgages & Loans · Countrywide Processing Centre
Set up on my own and joined the Exclusive Connections network — became one of the top 5 producers out of 60 nationally. Sat on the EC Product Development committee with lenders shaping market-leading products. Built bespoke packaging software, then rebranded and sold it to other packagers. Ran two companies, dealt with the FSA, and got very comfortable with what good ops actually look like.
December 2008
The credit crunch
When the funding lines went dark
Twelve good years, then the music stopped. Funding lines were cut, then withdrawn. Most of the niche mortgage market evaporated overnight. Painful — but it taught me more about resilience, cashflow and honest conversations with clients than any boardroom ever did.
2009 — 2015
Director
Countrywide Property Buyers · Countrywide Bridging Loans
Pivoted into property buying — fast sales for owners who needed out, sold on to BTL investors, developers, funds and property clubs from the network I'd already built. Then negotiated private funding lines with two lending institutions to offer bridging finance ourselves, until the FCA changes shifted the ground again.
2015 — Present
Director
The Loan Providers Ltd
One of the most diverse loan and finance product ranges in the UK — bridging, commercial, BTL, development, secured, unsecured, credit-impaired, the lot. Built directly with private equity funders and the UK's leading specialist lenders. Still running. Still picking up the phone.
2023 — Now
Founder
AI Virgins
When AI started genuinely shifting the work — not the hype, the work — I did what I've always done. Rolled my sleeves up and learnt it from the ground. Real builds. Real failures. Until I could explain it without the jargon. This is the result.
What it means for you
Operator pattern-recognition — applied to your business
None of this is a vanity reel. It's the muscle memory you actually pay for.
I've been the owner
Payroll, FCA letters, a difficult Monday morning. I know what you're carrying.
I've built systems
Bespoke packaging software, CRM rollouts, broker networks. I know what scales and what just makes noise.
I've survived a downturn
2008 took my business to the studs. The rebuild taught me what really matters in a plan.
I've done the marketing
PPC, media buying, competitor intel, conversion. AI lives where ops, sales and marketing meet — I know that ground.
I've sat with regulators
FSA then FCA, compliance, MI, audit posture. AI without governance is a liability — I won't sell you that.
I still run a business today
The Loan Providers is live. I'm not commentating from the sidelines. I'm in the same weather as you.
Frequently asked
AI readiness checks, in plain English
The questions UK owners actually ask me before booking. If yours isn't here, just ask on the call.
The standard I hold myself to.
- If a recommendation can't be defended on a spreadsheet, it doesn't go in the report.
- If AI isn't right for you yet, I'll say so on the call. No invoice for the privilege.
- Zero vendor commissions. The picks are the picks.
- Same person, every conversation. From the Fit Call to the final readout.