What kinds of automation does Watermelon build?

We build automation across finance (invoice, payroll, accounts receivable, accounting), marketing (email, B2B, ecommerce lifecycle), and specific workflows like WhatsApp, document and contract automation. We also organise our work by business function (finance, HR, sales, operations, customer service, legal) and by industry. Everything is vendor-independent, flat fee, with no platform commissions.

Where should I start with automation?

Start with the workflow that's costing you the most right now — the visible bottleneck. For most UK SMEs that's either invoice processing and chasing (if cash and admin are the priority) or lead capture and lifecycle marketing (if growth is the priority). The £1,500 Discovery Sprint exists to map your processes and identify the highest-ROI starting point before any build.

How much does automation cost?

A single-workflow build is typically £4k–£8k fixed. A broader engagement runs £8k–£30k depending on scope and system count. Ongoing automation leadership as a fractional Chief Automation Officer is £5k–£15k per month. We bill flat fees, never hourly, and take no platform commissions. The £1,500 Discovery Sprint is a paid scoping exercise if you want a costed plan first.

Automations

What we automate

The full set of automations we build for UK businesses, by area. Independent of every platform, flat fee, no commissions. Start with the workflow that's costing you the most.

Finance automation

The highest-commercial-intent cluster — invoice, payroll, AR and the month-end close. Start at the hub or go straight to a workflow.

Finance automation hub →The overview of every finance workflow we automate, with pricing and UK compliance.Invoice automation →Supplier bill capture, OCR, coding, approval routing, payment files.Payroll automation →Variable pay, HMRC RTI, pension auto-enrolment, expense reimbursement.Accounts receivable automation →Auto-chasing, payment matching, DSO reduction, cash forecasting.Accounting automation →Month-end close orchestration, bank reconciliation, journals, reporting.

Marketing automation

Lifecycle flows, lead scoring and attribution — independent of every platform, no licence commissions.

Marketing automation hub →The overview of every marketing workflow we automate.Marketing automation consultants →Independent, cross-platform specialists — no HubSpot/Klaviyo/ActiveCampaign partner commissions.Email marketing automation →Lifecycle flows, segmentation, deliverability, GDPR consent.B2B marketing automation →Lead scoring, nurture, MQL-to-SQL handoff, ABM, attribution.Ecommerce marketing automation →Klaviyo and Shopify flows — cart, post-purchase, win-back, replenishment.

AI automation

AI where it earns its keep — the judgement steps rules can't handle — built human-in-the-loop, no hype.

AI automation hub →The overview of how we use AI inside automation you can trust.AI agents →Agentic workflows — multi-step tasks with guardrails and human checkpoints.Document AI →Intelligent document processing — read and extract from varied, messy documents.AI customer support →RAG-grounded support that resolves common queries and assists agents.Internal AI assistants →Secure assistants that answer staff questions from your own knowledge.

Specific automations

Specific workflow automations

Targeted builds for high-value individual workflows.

WhatsApp automation →WhatsApp Business API — order updates, support, reminders, marketing.Document automation →Generate documents from templates; extract data from PDFs with OCR.Contract automation →Drafting, review routing, e-signature, renewal and obligation tracking.

How our automation work is organised

We describe what we build three ways, so you can find your way in from whichever angle fits how you think about your business:

By area (this page) — finance, marketing, and specific workflows like WhatsApp, document and contract automation.
By function — for the person who owns a department: finance, HR, sales, operations, customer service, legal & compliance.
By industry — for agencies, ecommerce/DTC, recruitment, professional services, SaaS and accountancy firms.

Whichever route you take, the approach is the same: independent of every platform, flat fee never hourly, no commissions, and a firm preference for the lightest tool that does the job. We map the process before we pick the software.

Where to start

Don't try to automate everything at once. Pick the workflow costing you the most right now and start there. For most UK SMEs that's invoice processing and chasing (if cash and admin are the pain) or lead capture and lifecycle marketing (if growth is the pain). If you're not sure, the £1,500 Discovery Sprint maps your processes and identifies the highest-ROI starting point before any build.

For concrete ideas, the 25 automation examples guide catalogues real automations across every function. For the framework behind it all, see business process automation.

Pricing

Single-workflow build: £4k–£8k fixed. Broader engagement: £8k–£30k. Fractional Chief Automation Officer retainer: £5k–£15k per month. Discovery Sprint: £1,500. No hourly billing, no platform commissions.

Not sure where to start?

30 minutes. No deck. Tell us the workflow costing you the most. We'll tell you what we'd automate first and what it would save.

or book directly