Keep work moving. From first enquiry to final invoice.

Software, integration and automation for UK operational SMEs. I connect your tools and build targeted improvements to reduce duplicate entry, missed handovers and the admin between getting a job and getting paid.

Discuss a bottleneck Discuss an operational bottleneck Explore the workflow review

Work directly with Luke. Around seven years of engineering experience, including at eBay.

The job moves forward. The information gets left behind.

An enquiry arrives by email. The quote lives in a spreadsheet. A booking goes into the diary, while the team gets the details in a message. Each handover means copying information or chasing someone who has it.

By the time the work is done, the office may still be waiting for job notes, photos or a report before it can raise an invoice. Follow-on work gets buried in an inbox. The same details are entered again.

I trace that whole journey with the people doing the work, find where information stalls and improve the connections. Sometimes that means configuring a tool you already own. Sometimes it needs an integration or a small piece of software.

Services

Connect the workflow. Fix the gaps.

I map how information moves through your business, connect existing software and build targeted tools where the current setup falls short. The starting point is a recurring operational problem you can describe.

Trace the work

From enquiry to billing.

Look at the handovers between each stage, including who owns the next step.

Enquiries: Capture customer and job details once, with a clear owner and next action.
Quotations: Carry requirements into a quote, track revisions and pass accepted work to scheduling.
Scheduling: Give the office and delivery team the same job details, dates and changes.
Delivery: Bring field or workshop updates, job notes, photos and reports back to the office.
Billing: Turn completed work into invoice-ready information and capture follow-on work.

A slow quote may be the visible symptom. The cause might sit earlier in the enquiry, or later in how the job reaches the people doing the work.

Improve the connections

Practical software and integration.

These are examples of the work we could scope, depending on your bottleneck and existing tools. We agree what needs to improve before choosing the technology.

01 Connect tools: For example, move an accepted quote into your job system without entering the customer and scope again.
02 Build improvements: For example, give a field team a simple way to submit job notes and photos for office review and billing.
03 Automate admin: For example, flag missing completion details or surface follow-on work. Where useful, AI can help extract or draft information for someone to check.

AI is an option where it suits the task. Straightforward rules, better forms or a direct integration may be all you need.

How we work

Operational Workflow Review

Bring one job that gets stuck, one handover that keeps failing or one piece of admin your team keeps repeating. We start there.

Discuss: Start with a 30-minute conversation about one recurring bottleneck, who it affects and what it costs in time, delays or rework.
Trace: Walk through a real job and the tools, documents and handovers it touches. Identify where information is copied, lost or held up.
Scope: If there is a problem worth addressing, agree any paid scoping work, its fee and what you will get before it starts.
Implement: Agree a separate implementation scope, then build, test and hand over the improvement with the people who will use it. Check it against the original bottleneck.

The first conversation is about establishing the pain and whether I can help. There is no commitment to a build. Any paid scoping or implementation follows an agreed scope and fee, once the problem is clear.

Discuss an operational bottleneck

The fit

Whether this is for you.

I would rather we established this in a 30-minute conversation than three weeks into the work.

UK SMEs where work passes between the office, customers and the people delivering it. Trades, field-service businesses and light manufacturers are a particular fit, along with other operational businesses facing similar handover problems.

This works when

Your team copies the same job details between spreadsheets, email and software.
Quotes, scheduling, completion reports or invoices wait on someone chasing information.
You want to improve the tools you have and can involve the people who use them.
You can point to a recurring problem and help judge whether the change has improved it.

You do not need an AI project in mind, or a plan to replace all your systems. We start with the work that is causing friction.

Luke Strugnell O'Donnell

I’m Luke, founder of SignalFormation. I have around seven years of engineering experience, including at eBay, building software and working through how it fits into a wider business.

I joined KnownOrigin as its first employee and moved into eBay following its acquisition in 2022. That experience informs a practical approach: understand the workflow, work with the people using it and build something they can maintain and use.

You work directly with me, from the first conversation through scoping, implementation and handover. I connect existing tools or build a focused improvement around the problem we have agreed to solve.

Questions that usually come up.

Do we need to know what software we want?

No. Bring a recurring problem and walk me through a real example. We can trace the people, tools and information involved before deciding what needs to change.

Do you only work with trades or field-service businesses?

Those businesses, along with light manufacturing, are a particular fit. I also work with other UK operational SMEs where similar problems occur between enquiry, quotation, scheduling, delivery, reporting and billing.

Can you work with our existing software?

That is the starting point. I check what your tools already support, how they can exchange information and where a targeted improvement would help. Integration depends on the access and capabilities your systems provide; we establish those during scoping.

Does this involve AI?

Only where it suits the task. AI might help extract details from an enquiry or draft a report for review. Many problems are better addressed with clear ownership, structured forms, straightforward automation or a direct connection between systems.

What does the Operational Workflow Review cost?

The initial 30-minute conversation is free. We first establish the problem and whether it is worth investigating further. Any paid scoping or implementation has a scope and fee agreed before it starts. There is no obligation to proceed.

Who builds and supports the improvements?

I do the scoping and implementation, working with your team and existing providers where needed. Handover, ownership and any ongoing support are agreed as part of the scope.

What access do you need?

We can start with a screen-shared walkthrough and examples of the job information. Access is limited to what the agreed work requires, with confidentiality and data handling arrangements settled before sensitive information is shared.

Where does the work get stuck?

Bring a recent example: a quote you had to retype, a job handed over without the details, or an invoice held up by missing notes. In 30 minutes, we can establish what is happening and whether a closer look would be useful.

Discuss an operational bottleneck

Or email luke@signalformation.com

Start with a 30-minute conversation with Luke.