We name
the kit.
Most agencies say “AI integration” without naming a single tool. We don’t. Below is the actual stack we build with, every platform listed, with what we use each one for. No mystery, no vendor lock-in dressed up as expertise.
Our packaged offering.
One platform we’ve built a full agency layer on top of. Headline of the stack for service-business clients.
Northern AI Suite From £65/mo
Our managed all-in-one offering, built on top of GoHighLevel. You get CRM, pipeline tracking, email marketing, SMS, two-way conversations, booking calendar, forms, multi-channel workflows and review request automation — under one platform, one monthly fee, one setup.
Why we picked GHL as the substrate: built for service businesses, SMS + voice native, unlimited contacts, white-label-able. Five tiers from Essential (£65/mo) to Pro (£350/mo), plus managed and fractional-CAO options. Setup typically £700–£2,000 depending on scope.
Workflow & automation.
The glue between the apps. Where one tool talks to another, this is what we use to wire it.
Visual workflow builder for connecting CRM, forms, email, calendars, social, payments, anything with an API. Our go-to for client automations that need to be readable and maintainable.
We use it for: form-to-CRM-to-Slack flows, review request loops, social repurposing, daily property scrapes (Rightmove → website), invoicing triggers.
Open-source workflow engine, fair-code licensed. We deploy this for clients who need data residency, custom nodes, or want to own the automation layer outright.
We use it for: data-sensitive flows, on-premise deployments, AI agent orchestration, anything that shouldn’t leave a private network.
Still the broadest integration library. We use Zapier when speed-to-ship matters more than cost or when a client already has a Zapier estate we’re extending rather than replacing.
We use it for: quick MVPs, lead-list enrichment, edge-case integrations Make doesn’t cover (yet).
CRM & marketing.
Where the leads live. Picked based on business model, not on what we get a kickback from.
Best-in-class for SaaS, B2B tech-led growth, lifecycle marketing. We build with HubSpot when the polish, ecosystem and reporting depth justify the extra zero.
We use it for: SaaS clients, scale-ups, anyone needing deep MarTech + sales alignment.
Sales-first CRM, clean UI, strong pipeline visualisation. The right fit when the client’s pain is “our sales process is messy” rather than “our marketing is messy”.
We use it for: B2B service businesses, consultancies, anyone with a long sales cycle.
Formerly Sendinblue. Generous free tier, EU-hosted, transactional + marketing email in one. Where Mailchimp’s pricing has become silly, Brevo is the obvious switch.
We use it for: growing newsletters, transactional + receipts, EU GDPR-sensitive setups.
We still build with both. Mailchimp for clients with a long-running newsletter setup; ActiveCampaign for ones where the marketing automation depth matters more than UI.
We use it for: migrations, audits, integrating with existing setups.
When the SMS / voice pipeline needs to be programmable rather than packaged. Direct API integration for high-volume or compliance-sensitive use cases.
We use it for: custom messaging flows, AI voice agents, two-way SMS at scale.
Reviews drive local trust. Our review-request automations push completions into a five-touch sequence and surface every reply in one dashboard.
We use it for: every local-trades, hospitality and professional services client.
Build, CMS & commerce.
Where the website itself lives. We hand-code more often than not but we’ll build with what already fits.
Hand-coded with semantic markup, WCAG 2.1 AA, sub-second load. The Northern default for brochure sites — no plugins to update, no WordPress 11pm break, no theme rent.
We use it for: most service-business sites, agencies, consultancies, anywhere editor-flexibility is less important than speed + reliability.
When the client’s team writes blog posts weekly and needs the WYSIWYG. We’ll build a clean, plugin-light WP setup — not a Divi template with 14 dependencies.
We use it for: content-heavy publishers, multi-author setups, clients who specifically want WordPress.
Default e-com platform unless there’s a strong reason otherwise. Mature, well-supported, integrates with everything in this stack.
We use it for: independent retailers, DTC brands, click-and-collect setups.
When the e-com + content blog needs to live in one place and Shopify’s blog limitations are a deal-breaker. Heavier build, more plugins to maintain.
We use it for: niche retailers with strong editorial / SEO content needs.
Payments, invoicing, subscriptions, billing portals. The default for service businesses billing clients monthly. Built into AI Suite, into Northern’s own invoicing flow.
We use it for: recurring billing, deposit-then-balance project invoicing, subscription products.
Calendly for one-off booking widgets; AI Suite’s built-in calendar when the booking flow needs to feed the CRM automatically.
We use it for: consultation calls, discovery sessions, multi-attendee bookings.
Productivity & internal.
What we run Northern on. Many of these we’ll also set up for clients.
Business email, OneDrive, Word, Excel, PowerPoint. Default for clients in regulated industries (legal, finance, healthcare) where 365 is already the standard.
Alternative for clients who prefer Google’s ecosystem or have a small team where collaboration speed matters more than the Microsoft polish.
Internal docs, client SOPs, project trackers, knowledge bases. Built our own playbook system on Notion. Easy to grant clients read-only access to project state.
Light-database + spreadsheet hybrid. We use it for content calendars, programmatic page generation, client data sets we’ll feed into Make.com flows.
Internal + shared channels with retainer clients. Make.com pipes lead notifications, completed automations, error alerts straight into the right channel.
Our own invoicing + bookkeeping. Automated review-request flow tied to invoice completion — the same automation we set up for clients.
Not sure what fits?
Book a free Automation Deep Dive. We’ll review your current stack, find the leaks, and recommend the tools that fit — not the ones we’d earn most on.