SMEs losing up to 70 per cent of week to admin – AI experts

Small business owners across the West Midlands are losing between 40 and 70 per cent of their working week to repetitive admin.

That’s according to new data from Birmingham-based consultancy Oxon AI Advisory, who ran discovery conversations with local firms in construction, trades and professional services.

Oxon AI’s research revealed that for one Birmingham tradesperson, calling and re-quoting customers after every change eats up around 40 per cent of the working week.

For a West Midlands financial services firm, roughly 70 per cent of the week goes on routine customer enquiries, with only a small fraction converting into paying business each month.

Neither owner had previously put a number on the cost.

Oxon AI Advisory was founded by Mohamed Elagamy, a Birmingham-based principal consultant with 24 years in technology delivery, including a role as IBM's AI & Quantum Client Delivery Lead and leading a hybrid AI-quantum programme for Vanguard.

He completed the AI-Driven Business Transformation executive programme at the University of Oxford's Saïd Business School in June 2026, the inspiration behind the firm's name.

Elagamy (pictured) said: “Every SME owner I speak to in Birmingham knows admin is eating their week - they just haven't put a number on it. Enterprise AI strategy has been sitting behind big-company budgets for years.

“Our job is to bring that same rigour to a business with five people and no IT department, starting with the admin that's actually costing them time - not a big transformation project.”

Oxon AI Advisory is offering West Midlands SME owners a free AI readiness assessment - a short, no-obligation conversation to identify where AI could realistically save time before any commitment to a project.

Business owners interested can contact Oxon AI Advisory at melagamy@oxon-ai.com.