Avg. hours saved / client / mo
0
Ironheart Studio·Operations × Automation
We rebuild
the busy work
so you can think.
Avg. time to first automation
0
Automations in production
0
Fixed-price, no surprises
0
Automation + Data ◆ Workflow engineering ◆ Custom internal tools ◆ BI & reporting ◆ Integrations that don't break ◆ AI-assisted ops ◆Automation + Data ◆ Workflow engineering ◆ Custom internal tools ◆ BI & reporting ◆ Integrations that don't break ◆ AI-assisted ops ◆
Services / 001–005
Five things we do
exceptionally well.
Each engagement starts with a systems audit. Then we build the smallest possible intervention that moves the needle — and only add complexity when the data asks for it.
/01
Process Automation
What you get
- Audit of manual work
- Automation map
- Built & monitored workflows
- Runbook + handoff
Stack / tooling
- n8n self-hosted
- Airtable / Notion
- Webhooks & APIs
- Queue + retry logic
/02
Data & Reporting
What you get
- Source inventory
- Warehouse + models
- Exec + ops dashboards
- Alerting on deltas
Stack / tooling
- Postgres / BigQuery
- dbt
- Metabase / Superset
- Segment / Fivetran
/03
Internal Tools
What you get
- UX sketches
- Working app in 2 weeks
- Role-based access
- Training + docs
Stack / tooling
- Retool / Tooljet
- Next.js + Supabase
- Auth via SSO
- Audit logging
/04
System Integrations
What you get
- Integration spec
- Middleware layer
- Retry + observability
- SLA monitoring
Stack / tooling
- Hookdeck / Svix
- TypeScript services
- Upstash / Redis
- Datadog / Sentry
/05
AI-Assisted Ops
What you get
- Use-case scoping
- Eval harness
- Production agent(s)
- Guardrails + audit
Stack / tooling
- OpenAI / Anthropic
- LangGraph / custom
- pgvector
- Eval pipelines
How we work
A sprint, not a saga.
Most of our engagements are 30–60 days. We scope tight, ship fast, measure impact, and only extend when you want us to.
Week 1
01
Diagnose
We shadow the team, map the actual workflow (not the org-chart version), and find the five bottlenecks nobody's writing down.
- Stakeholder interviews
- System inventory
- Workflow mapping
- Opportunity scoring
Week 1–2
02
Scope
We write a tight, fixed-price proposal. No discovery theater, no change-order roulette — if we say 30 days, it's 30 days.
- Proposal + SoW
- Success metrics
- Fixed-price quote
- Kickoff date
Week 2–6
03
Build
Heads-down execution in short loops. You see a working thing every Friday. Feedback turns into Monday's build.
- Weekly demos
- Shared backlog
- Staged rollouts
- Observability from day one
Week 6+
04
Run & hand off
We operate it until your team is confident. Clean docs, training, and a 90-day warranty on everything we ship.
- Runbooks
- Team training
- 90-day warranty
- Optional retainer
The people
Small studio.
Senior work.
No juniors billed as seniors, no offshore handoffs, no project managers translating for engineers. The people you meet on day one are the people you work with on day thirty.
Ironheart Studio · est. 2026
Hi, I'm Luke.
I keep Ironheart small, on purpose. Most consultancies sell you a partner and ship you a junior. Here, the founder takes the call, writes the proposal, and pushes the commits.
We partner with two to three companies at a time to help them grow, by building the software, automations, and internal tools their teams need to move faster. Weekly meetings, weekly shipping, and either we wrap when the work's done or roll into a retainer.
If that sounds like the partnership you've been looking for, the intro call is fifteen minutes.
Luke Hodges.
Founder · luke@theironheart.org
L
Luke Hodges.
Founder · Ops & Engineering
CS · BathPythonReactn8nUK
A
Alex Stewart.
Employee No. 01 · Client Development
Maths · BathScopingClientsUK
Questions
Frequently
asked.
If you don't see yours here, book a call — we answer every question honestly.
Who is this for?
+Small businesses (5–50 people) that have outgrown their tools. If your team is spending hours on work that a system should handle — reconciliation, data entry, manual reporting, chasing updates — we can help.
How fast can you start?
+Usually within 1–2 weeks. We start with a diagnostic to understand what’s broken, then move straight into building. Most engagements are 4–8 weeks end-to-end.
Do you build, or just advise?
+We build. Every engagement ships working software, automations, or infrastructure — not slides. We’ll advise along the way, but only alongside something real we’re delivering.
What does it cost?
+It depends on scope. We do fixed-price engagements so you know the cost upfront before we start. Book a call and we’ll give you a straight answer within 15 minutes.
What if we already have developers?
+Great — most of our clients do. We handle the ops and automation side that your team doesn’t have bandwidth for, and hand everything off clean with docs and training.
Where are you based?
+UK-based, remote-first. We work with clients across the UK and can overlap with European and US time zones.
Book a call
Fifteen minutes to figure out if we're a fit.
Bring the messiest thing you're dealing with. If we can't help, we'll tell you — and usually recommend someone who can.
- No sales deck, no follow-up sequence
- Walk away with a written plan of attack
- Free, zero-obligation, 15 minutes max
Reply within
24 hours · usually 2
01 · Scope02 · Time03 · Confirm
What do you need help with?
How would you like to work?
Sprint (4 weeks, fixed)
Retainer (monthly)
Custom / not sure yet
What's hurting?
Automate manual work
Unify data / reporting
Build an internal tool
Connect systems
Process audit
Something else