How much does AI consulting cost in the UK?
Most UK AI consultancies charge £800 to £1,500 per day, and a typical first automation project lands between £10,000 and £30,000. Cottonmill charges a fixed £12,000 to automate three business processes in 30 days: £6,000 up front and £6,000 only if you agree the results were worth it. Day rates reward time spent; fixed pricing rewards results. If a consultancy won't publish a price, assume the answer depends on your budget rather than the work.
If you just want the number: expect £800 to £1,500 a day for a UK AI consultant, or £10,000 to £30,000 for a defined first project. Our own price is £12,000 fixed for three working automations delivered in 30 days, with half the fee contingent on you agreeing it worked. That's the whole answer. The rest of this page explains why prices vary so much and how to avoid paying for a strategy deck instead of a working system.
Why AI consulting prices are all over the place
In the UK, advertisers pay £32.03 per click for the term "ai strategy consultant" and £13.01 for "ai consultancy" (source: Semrush UK database, August 2026). When firms are willing to pay £32 for a single visit to a pricing conversation, it tells you two things: the deals are large, and sellers would rather you didn't comparison-shop. That is why so few publish rates.
Advice
Audits, strategy, roadmaps
£2,000 to £10,000
Useful if you genuinely don't know where to start, but you end with a document, not a system.
A build
Working automations, chatbots, document processing
£10,000 to £30,000 for a first SME project
You end with software your team uses.
A retainer
Ongoing advisory, fractional AI officer
£1,500 to £5,000 per month
Right for firms with systems already live.
What we charge, exactly
£12,000 fixed to map and automate three processes in 30 days, for businesses of roughly 50 to 200 staff. £6,000 to start, £6,000 only paid if you agree the results were worth it. Training, documentation and dashboards are included.
We publish this because the alternative, "book a call to discuss pricing", is how buyers end up in three-month sales cycles for four-figure work.
More on how we deliver it on our AI consultancy page, and on the training side in AI training.
What to budget by business type
For a 50 to 200 person business, the first processes worth automating are almost always the same: chasing information, drafting standard correspondence, moving data between systems, and answering the same questions repeatedly. None of it needs custom machine learning. That is £10,000 to £15,000 territory, not £100,000.
If you're local to us, see also AI consultant in Burnley.
Frequently asked questions
How much do AI consultants charge per day in the UK?
Typically £800 to £1,500 for experienced consultants; big-firm rates run £2,000+.
What does an AI consultant actually do?
The good ones find the repetitive work draining your team's time, build automations inside the systems you already use, and train your people to run them. The bad ones deliver workshops and slideware.
Is a fixed price better than a day rate?
For a first project, usually yes. A day rate means the uncertainty sits with you; a fixed price with a results clause means it sits with the consultancy.
How do I choose an AI consulting partner?
Ask three things: can I see something you've built, what happens if it doesn't work, and who maintains it after handover. A partner with good answers to all three is rare and worth shortlisting.
Want a number for your business?
Book a free discovery call and we'll tell you what we'd automate first and what it would cost.
Book a call