# UpScale Automation > Automation and AI adoption for SMEs in the UK and Australia. UpScale Automation Ltd is an automation and AI adoption consultancy working with > small and medium-sized businesses — typically under £25m turnover — in the United Kingdom and > Australia. We map how a business actually runs, build bespoke automations into the systems it > already uses, and train the client's own team to run and extend them. ## What we do - Map existing business processes in measurable detail, including the real steps, handoffs and exceptions. - Score and rank automation opportunities on time saved, cost, risk reduced and effort to build — including advising against automating some things. - Design and build automations against the client's existing technical stack rather than a template, with failure paths and access controls agreed up front. - Deploy in two-week sprints, monitor in production, and maintain on a flat monthly retainer. - Train a named owner inside the client's business so the automation does not depend on us. ## Who we work with Value-aligned businesses turning over under £25m (roughly A$50m) in the UK and Australia that want to scale operations and reduce cost. We are selective about who we partner with and will say when we are not the right fit. ## The MIDAS™ method Our five-stage delivery methodology: 1. **Model** — Build a measurable blueprint of how your business actually runs. 2. **Identify** — Prioritise the opportunities worth acting on. 3. **Design** — Solutions built for your architecture, not a template. 4. **Automate** — Build, deploy and maintain at the bottleneck. 5. **Scale** — Increase throughput without inflating overhead. Full detail: https://upscaleautomation.co.uk/business-process-automation ## The ASCEND™ scale A six-level scale grading how deeply AI is adopted in a business, assessed across platform, data, process, skills, governance and change: - **Level 0 — Accidental**: Unsanctioned AI use on personal accounts, invisible to the business. - **Level 1 — Supported**: Sanctioned tools, used standalone and disconnected from your systems. - **Level 2 — Connected**: Wired into live systems and data, but every run is triggered by a human. - **Level 3 — Embedded**: Processes redesigned around AI; humans supervise rather than operate. - **Level 4 — Native**: Department-wide workflows rebuilt with AI at their core. - **Level 5 — Directive**: AI designs and implements novel workflows against your strategy. The ASCEND™ assessment is a one-day, in-person engagement carried out by a certified assessor, producing an ASCEND scorecard and a practical AI action plan. Currently free until 30 September 2026, normally £2,995. Full detail: https://upscaleautomation.co.uk/ai-readiness-assessment ## Frequently asked questions ### Who are UpScale Automation? UpScale Automation is an automation house for small and medium-sized businesses in the UK and Australia. We find the bottlenecks holding a business back, build bespoke automations to clear them using your existing tech stack, and coach your team to run them without us. ### Who is UpScale a good fit for? Value-aligned businesses turning over under £25m (roughly A$50m) that want to scale operations and reduce cost, and recognise that AI has changed what's possible. We're selective about who we partner with but are always open to a conversation. ### Will automation replace my staff? Not necessarily. In our experience it is more profitable to redeploy them around new human-centric constraints. The work we automate is the work nobody wanted, and businesses under £25m are usually short of capacity rather than over-staffed, so the gain shows up as the same team handling more, not a smaller team. ### How long until we see something working? As we build bespoke, all of our engagements follow custom and mutually agreed timelines dependent on the scale of the automations requested. That said, we recommend breaking automation journeys into smaller sprint projects, where value can be tested and trust built. Our typical projects deploy in 30–90 days. ### What tools do you build with? We are tool-agnostic developers who build as much as possible within your existing technical environment to minimise cost. Where this is not possible, or there are missing features, we will consult with you on the most cost-effective solutions that enable your priorities. ### What does it cost? We price every project bespoke to the nature of the work, whether that be cost-reduction, revenue generation or company valuation. We agree the benefit calculation methodology before the build phase. Typically project values sit at 20% of value added across an 18-month time horizon. ## Pages - [Home](https://upscaleautomation.co.uk/): what we do, the MIDAS™ method, FAQs and the ASCEND™ scale. - [Business Process Automation](https://upscaleautomation.co.uk/business-process-automation): the five MIDAS™ stages, with what we do, what the client does and what they get at each. - [AI Readiness Assessment](https://upscaleautomation.co.uk/ai-readiness-assessment): the six levels of AI adoption and how the assessment works. - [Book a meeting](https://upscaleautomation.co.uk/book): a 30-minute, no-obligation conversation. ## Contact - Email: dan@upscaleautomation.co.uk - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/118573946 - Book a call: https://upscaleautomation.co.uk/book ## Legal UpScale Automation Ltd · Registered in England and Wales, company number 17366821. UpScale Automation is not a firm regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and does not provide legal advice.