The person behind the work
James Sayers. 30 years in IT.
Still hands-on. Still the person who does the work. Not a company — a consultant who has been around long enough to have seen most things go wrong, and know how to make them go right.
Still hands-on. Still the person who does the work. Not a company — a consultant who has been around long enough to have seen most things go wrong, and know how to make them go right.
Started working in IT for a book selling company that also ran a computer shop. Learned the trade from the ground up — repair, sales, client relationships, the full range of what a small technology business actually involves day to day. The foundation everything else was built on.
Took over and ran the computer shop independently as PBS Associates for eight years. Built the client base, managed the commercial side, handled everything from hardware repairs to business IT support. Running your own operation teaches you things no employed role can — what clients actually need, what it costs when things go wrong, and why reliability matters more than anything else.
Joined a well-established local automotive business as IT Manager for seven years. Managed the full IT operation and led the technology side of a factory transition — moving the business from an older site into a purpose-built facility. Infrastructure, office systems, and the IT elements of the relocation, delivered alongside a live manufacturing operation. A first taste of what properly planned infrastructure work looks like at scale.
A year with a radio communications company in Southampton — building client websites, handling on-site installations and technical setups across different client environments. A deliberately different pace and sector, broadening the web capability into something more rounded before taking on the next long-term role.
A decade as sole IT decision-maker at a UK manufacturing business — four sites, two countries, 130+ endpoints. Owned everything: infrastructure, ERP, web, telephony, security. Responsible to the MD and trusted with it. The role that brought together everything built across the previous twenty years.
Project-managed the consolidation of four factory IT environments into a new Mega Factory site — spec'd the infrastructure, managed cabling contractors, coordinated equipment configuration with corporate HQ, personally relocated 130+ endpoints, and commissioned the server room from bare walls to a live, fully documented environment.
Migrated a live manufacturing Priority ERP system through seven major versions — from v18.2 thick client to v24.1 web interface — in a single weekend. Staff arrived Monday morning to a system that worked. No disruption. No drama.
Made the decision to take everything built over thirty years and offer it directly to the businesses that need it — without the overhead, the hand-offs, or the corporate layer in between. The work is the same. The accountability is more direct.
I started in IT in 1995, working in a computer shop that I would eventually take over and run myself as PBS Associates. Eight years of running your own business — building clients, managing the commercial reality, being the person responsible when things go wrong — gives you a perspective that no employed role can replicate. I understand what it means to have skin in the game, because I have had it.
What followed was a career that built breadth deliberately. Seven years as IT Manager at an automotive manufacturer — including a factory transition — then a year broadening the web work at a communications company, then a decade at a UK manufacturing business: four sites, two countries, ERP, infrastructure, web, telephony. All of it owned. All of it reported directly to the MD.
The decision to go independent was not a reaction to anything. It was a long-term plan, and the timing was right. I had achieved what I set out to achieve in employment. The next logical step was to offer that same capability — that same quality of work, that same direct accountability — to other businesses as a consultant.
"The clients I work best with don't need an agency. They need one experienced person who understands their business, tells them the truth, and delivers without hand-offs."
I am not trying to build a consultancy firm. I am not trying to win a large contract and staff it with people who weren't in the room when the brief was written. I work with a small number of clients, I understand their businesses properly, and I remain accountable for the outcome — whether that means doing the work with my own hands or knowing when to bring in the right specialist alongside me.
That is the model. It is not for every client — but for the right ones, it is exactly what they need.
There is no layer between you and the person responsible for the result. I manage the work — whether that means doing it with my own hands, or knowing when to bring in the right specialist and directing them properly. Either way, the accountability is mine throughout. You always know exactly who to call.
If your system has a problem, I will tell you what it is and what it will take to fix it — not what you want to hear. If a project is not the right approach, I will say so before you spend money on it. Honest advice is more valuable than comfortable advice.
I have booked a hotel room on a Friday night to make sure a Monday morning went smoothly for a client's staff. That is not exceptional — that is just what the work requires sometimes. The outcome matters more than the hours.
Working remotely is not a compromise for me. It is how I have chosen to structure my professional life, and the clients I work with are businesses where the quality of the work matters more than proximity.
The vast majority of what I do — ERP administration, remote IT management, web design, infrastructure advisory — can be done entirely remotely. For the work that genuinely requires presence — a migration weekend, an initial site assessment, a go-live — I travel. UK and Europe without hesitation.
I am UK-based and work with clients across the UK and Europe. I work with the clients I have chosen to work with, on problems I can genuinely solve, delivered to a standard I am prepared to put my name to.
No pitch, no slide deck. Just an honest conversation about what you need and whether I am the right person to help with it.