JHC Custom Build · Kent and UK-wide

AI built for the job your business actually does

Tell us what you want AI to do: draft quotes from a site visit form, turn timesheets into invoices, answer staff questions from your own procedures. We check your systems, write down exactly what it will do, give you a fixed price, then build it in stages so you see it working before you pay the balance.

From £1,500, fixed in writing before any work starts

Ring for a free 15-minute call07500 511462Request a quote

Based in Kent, working with businesses across the UK: on site in Kent, by video anywhere else.

How a custom build works

Six steps, and you know the price after step three.

  1. A free 15-minute call

    What you want to change and whether AI is the right answer. Sometimes a setting in a tool you already pay for does the job, and we'll say so.

  2. A scope and a check of your systems

    We look at your accounts, data and software, because that is where builds go wrong. Free for builds up to £5,000. Above that, a paid scope of £495, credited in full against the build.

  3. A written spec and a fixed price

    What it does, what it doesn't, what you need to provide, who pays which running costs, and the date. The quote is the price.

  4. Built in stages

    Each stage ends with a short demonstration on test data, so you see it working before we move on.

  5. Handover

    A training session for the people who will use it, a written guide and two weeks of help. It runs on your own accounts wherever possible, so it stays yours.

  6. Aftercare, if you want it

    A build care plan from £99 a month, Managed AI, or the AI Operations Partner retainer. Or run it yourself.

What a build usually costs

Every build is quoted on its own after the scope. These bands give you an idea before the first call.

SmallOne job automated, or one assistant connected to one system. Usually one to three weeks£1,500 to £3,000
StandardSeveral connected steps across two or three systems, or a tool your whole team uses£3,000 to £7,500
LargeA department's workflow, something your customers use, or anything with sensitive data. A paid scope comes firstFrom £7,500
Changes after the specAgreed in writing before they're done, or quoted as a fixed price£450 a day

Half is paid when you sign and half at handover (40%, 40% and 20% above £7,500). Running costs such as software plans or AI usage are paid by you, directly to each provider, and estimated in the spec. Not VAT registered, so no VAT is added.

The kind of thing we build

  • Quotes drafted for youFrom a site visit form, a phone note or an email, using your own price book. A person checks and sends.
  • Paperwork into your accountsJob sheets, timesheets or delivery notes turned into draft invoices in Xero or QuickBooks.
  • A staff assistant on your proceduresYour team asks questions and gets answers from your own policies, manuals and past work, with the source shown.
  • Enquiries sorted and routedEmail, website and phone messages read, sorted and passed to the right person with a draft reply.
  • Reports pulled togetherThe monthly figures you build by hand from several systems, collected and drafted for you to check.
  • Phone answering that books into your diaryWhere an off-the-shelf app can't connect to your systems, we connect it.

Who owns it

You own your data, your accounts and everything made specifically for you: the instructions, settings, content and the written guide. If we stop working together, it keeps running and you keep it.

We keep the general tools and code we bring to the job, and we may reuse them for other clients, but never with anything of yours in them. Wherever they form part of your build, you get a permanent licence to use them in your own business. It's all written into the custom build agreement you sign before work starts, along with a data processing agreement if we handle personal data for you.

What we won't build

  • AI that decides about people on its own. Hiring, credit, tenancy and similar decisions keep a person in charge. UK rules on automated decisions apply.
  • Advice bots for the public. Nothing that gives medical, legal or financial advice to your customers.
  • Scraping or cold messaging individuals. No harvesting personal data, and no cold texts or emails to private people.
  • Anything misleading. No fake reviews, no impersonation, and customers are told when they are talking to AI.
  • Something we couldn't support. If we couldn't fix it when it breaks, we won't build it.

Already booked a Kick-Start or an audit?

The £395 AI Kick-Start is credited against a build quoted at £1,000 or more, and the £995 audit against a build of £2,000 or more, if you go ahead within 60 days. One credit per build.

Request a quote

Questions people ask

Why do you check our systems before quoting?

Because builds rarely fail on the AI. They fail on a Microsoft plan without the right licence, years of tangled permissions, or an IT supplier who blocks new tools. Checking first is what lets us give you a fixed price and keep to it.

What if we want to change something halfway?

Tell us. We write down what the change involves, what it costs and how it moves the date, and nothing extra goes ahead until you agree. Small changes are often absorbed; we'll say which.

What happens if it doesn't work?

At handover you have 10 working days to try it in your business. Anything that doesn't do what the spec says is fixed at no cost. For 30 days after that, faults caused by our work are fixed free too.

Do we need to buy new software?

Sometimes. The spec lists every running cost and who pays it before you sign. Wherever possible the build uses tools you already pay for, on your own accounts.

Can you build something you haven't built before?

Often, yes, and the scope is where we find out. If it's new to us we say so, and the stage payments mean you never pay far ahead of what you've seen working.

Is there something cheaper?

For smaller jobs, yes: custom AI assistants on your own documents are £495, single automations start from £395, and several ready-made tools are coming soon at fixed monthly prices.

Ross Hayes
Ross Hayes

Who you'll work with

James Hayes Consulting is led by Ross Hayes, who builds software for his own businesses and uses AI tools in them every day. We set AI up on your real work, explain it in plain English, and tell you straight if something isn’t worth paying for.

Every project starts with a free 15-minute call, and prices are agreed in writing before you commit.

Ring for a free 15-minute call07500 511462Book a free call online

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Free 15-minute call07500 511462 Book a call