We Run Our Business on Referrals
Fresh Projects is a UK-based software platform designed for architects, engineers, and other built-environment professionals to manage financial aspects of their projects. It helps teams track fees, timesheets, expenses, billing, and overall profitability to keep projects on budget and profitable. The platform also centralises project data, streamlines administrative tasks, and offers mobile app support for easy access and updates.
1a Colinette Road
London
SW15 6QG
© 2026 Fresh Projects
Product
We Run Our Business on Referrals
Fresh Projects is a UK-based software platform designed for architects, engineers, and other built-environment professionals to manage financial aspects of their projects. It helps teams track fees, timesheets, expenses, billing, and overall profitability to keep projects on budget and profitable. The platform also centralises project data, streamlines administrative tasks, and offers mobile app support for easy access and updates.
1a Colinette Road
London
SW15 6QG
© 2026 Fresh Projects
Product
Slender Winter Partnership: From Legacy Software to Full Financial Clarity
Slender Winter Partnership: From Legacy Software to Full Financial Clarity
Slender Winter Partnership: From Legacy Software to Full Financial Clarity
Reading Time:
6
minute(s)
Running a growing consultancy on outdated tools
Running a growing consultancy on outdated tools
Running a growing consultancy on outdated tools
How a 32-person MEP consultancy replaced a decade-old system with Fresh Projects and gained the visibility to run a more profitable business
At a glance
Firm: Slender Winter Partnership Ltd (SWP)
Location: Kings Hill and Westerham, Kent
Team size: 32
Sectors: Prime and ultra-prime residential, private commercial, education, transport (including Transport for London)
Discipline: Mechanical, Electrical and Public Health (MEP) design consultancy
Core outcomes
Real-time visibility of engineer utilisation and per-engineer cost rates
Work-in-progress figures that are accurate, visible and actable
Streamlined invoicing and additional fee tracking, reducing missed billing
Finance reporting transformed from manual spreadsheet processes to instant outputs
Running a growing consultancy on outdated tools
Slender Winter Partnership has been delivering high quality MEP design across some of the UK's most demanding projects since 1985. From ultra-prime residential in London to transport infrastructure for TfL, the firm has built a strong reputation for bespoke, technically complex work. But behind the scenes, the systems keeping the business running hadn't kept pace.
When Paul Bushell joined as Technical Director 15 years ago, the office was running almost entirely on paper. Files, finance records, project folders - all physical. Emails were printed and stored in binders. Over the years, Paul worked to overhaul operations piece by piece, but the core practice management software remained a significant obstacle.
SWP had been using Sage Coretime since around 2008. It was difficult to navigate, had seen virtually no development in years, and pulling even a basic report could take 10 to 15 minutes. Support queries could go unanswered for a week and the answers, when they came, were rarely satisfying.
More critically, the system offered no meaningful financial insight. There was no visibility into what individual engineers cost the business, no reliable view of work in progress, and no straightforward way to track whether additional fees were being captured and billed correctly.
"I had disliked it for a long time. Probably once or twice a year I would always have a look and see what other alternatives were out there." - Paul Bushell, Company Director
For Anna Packman, Business Operations Manager, the day-to-day reality was a constant cycle of manual reporting. Every week, month and quarter meant building and rebuilding spreadsheets and if anything changed, starting again from scratch.
"The amount of spreadsheets that were being produced on a weekly, daily, monthly basis was just crazy, crazy. And then obviously if one little thing changed, you've then got to redo the whole lot." - Anna Packman, Business Operations Manager
How a 32-person MEP consultancy replaced a decade-old system with Fresh Projects and gained the visibility to run a more profitable business
At a glance
Firm: Slender Winter Partnership Ltd (SWP)
Location: Kings Hill and Westerham, Kent
Team size: 32
Sectors: Prime and ultra-prime residential, private commercial, education, transport (including Transport for London)
Discipline: Mechanical, Electrical and Public Health (MEP) design consultancy
Core outcomes
Real-time visibility of engineer utilisation and per-engineer cost rates
Work-in-progress figures that are accurate, visible and actable
Streamlined invoicing and additional fee tracking, reducing missed billing
Finance reporting transformed from manual spreadsheet processes to instant outputs
Running a growing consultancy on outdated tools
Slender Winter Partnership has been delivering high quality MEP design across some of the UK's most demanding projects since 1985. From ultra-prime residential in London to transport infrastructure for TfL, the firm has built a strong reputation for bespoke, technically complex work. But behind the scenes, the systems keeping the business running hadn't kept pace.
When Paul Bushell joined as Technical Director 15 years ago, the office was running almost entirely on paper. Files, finance records, project folders - all physical. Emails were printed and stored in binders. Over the years, Paul worked to overhaul operations piece by piece, but the core practice management software remained a significant obstacle.
SWP had been using Sage Coretime since around 2008. It was difficult to navigate, had seen virtually no development in years, and pulling even a basic report could take 10 to 15 minutes. Support queries could go unanswered for a week and the answers, when they came, were rarely satisfying.
More critically, the system offered no meaningful financial insight. There was no visibility into what individual engineers cost the business, no reliable view of work in progress, and no straightforward way to track whether additional fees were being captured and billed correctly.
"I had disliked it for a long time. Probably once or twice a year I would always have a look and see what other alternatives were out there." - Paul Bushell, Company Director
For Anna Packman, Business Operations Manager, the day-to-day reality was a constant cycle of manual reporting. Every week, month and quarter meant building and rebuilding spreadsheets and if anything changed, starting again from scratch.
"The amount of spreadsheets that were being produced on a weekly, daily, monthly basis was just crazy, crazy. And then obviously if one little thing changed, you've then got to redo the whole lot." - Anna Packman, Business Operations Manager
How a 32-person MEP consultancy replaced a decade-old system with Fresh Projects and gained the visibility to run a more profitable business
At a glance
Firm: Slender Winter Partnership Ltd (SWP)
Location: Kings Hill and Westerham, Kent
Team size: 32
Sectors: Prime and ultra-prime residential, private commercial, education, transport (including Transport for London)
Discipline: Mechanical, Electrical and Public Health (MEP) design consultancy
Core outcomes
Real-time visibility of engineer utilisation and per-engineer cost rates
Work-in-progress figures that are accurate, visible and actable
Streamlined invoicing and additional fee tracking, reducing missed billing
Finance reporting transformed from manual spreadsheet processes to instant outputs
Running a growing consultancy on outdated tools
Slender Winter Partnership has been delivering high quality MEP design across some of the UK's most demanding projects since 1985. From ultra-prime residential in London to transport infrastructure for TfL, the firm has built a strong reputation for bespoke, technically complex work. But behind the scenes, the systems keeping the business running hadn't kept pace.
When Paul Bushell joined as Technical Director 15 years ago, the office was running almost entirely on paper. Files, finance records, project folders - all physical. Emails were printed and stored in binders. Over the years, Paul worked to overhaul operations piece by piece, but the core practice management software remained a significant obstacle.
SWP had been using Sage Coretime since around 2008. It was difficult to navigate, had seen virtually no development in years, and pulling even a basic report could take 10 to 15 minutes. Support queries could go unanswered for a week and the answers, when they came, were rarely satisfying.
More critically, the system offered no meaningful financial insight. There was no visibility into what individual engineers cost the business, no reliable view of work in progress, and no straightforward way to track whether additional fees were being captured and billed correctly.
"I had disliked it for a long time. Probably once or twice a year I would always have a look and see what other alternatives were out there." - Paul Bushell, Company Director
For Anna Packman, Business Operations Manager, the day-to-day reality was a constant cycle of manual reporting. Every week, month and quarter meant building and rebuilding spreadsheets and if anything changed, starting again from scratch.
"The amount of spreadsheets that were being produced on a weekly, daily, monthly basis was just crazy, crazy. And then obviously if one little thing changed, you've then got to redo the whole lot." - Anna Packman, Business Operations Manager
Finding a platform that actually worked
Finding a platform that actually worked
Finding a platform that actually worked
After evaluating alternatives over several years, SWP found Fresh Projects. The demo was a turning point, not just because of what the software could do, but because of how the team handled it.
"The most surprising thing, I've got to be honest, is the fact that we could sit and ask questions during the demo and they were actually answered immediately. You knew your product, you knew how it worked." - Paul Bushell
That responsiveness has continued in the two years since SWP went live. Paul describes the ongoing support from the Fresh Projects team as unlike anything he's experienced with a software product.
"Even now I do send Aimee a random email asking a question about something and she always tries to answer it and resolve it for us. And if she can’t, it goes on the wish list board - which is great. The old software, you would send a support request in, you'd be lucky if you got an answer within a week." - Paul Bushell
Onboarding was managed carefully, with Paul leading the internal rollout and Anna overseeing the finance and reporting side. The focus from the outset was on getting clean data in - because, as Paul puts it, the data is only as good as what goes in.
"Honestly, it's like a breath of fresh air. The system works really well and is highly flexible" - Paul Bushell
After evaluating alternatives over several years, SWP found Fresh Projects. The demo was a turning point, not just because of what the software could do, but because of how the team handled it.
"The most surprising thing, I've got to be honest, is the fact that we could sit and ask questions during the demo and they were actually answered immediately. You knew your product, you knew how it worked." - Paul Bushell
That responsiveness has continued in the two years since SWP went live. Paul describes the ongoing support from the Fresh Projects team as unlike anything he's experienced with a software product.
"Even now I do send Aimee a random email asking a question about something and she always tries to answer it and resolve it for us. And if she can’t, it goes on the wish list board - which is great. The old software, you would send a support request in, you'd be lucky if you got an answer within a week." - Paul Bushell
Onboarding was managed carefully, with Paul leading the internal rollout and Anna overseeing the finance and reporting side. The focus from the outset was on getting clean data in - because, as Paul puts it, the data is only as good as what goes in.
"Honestly, it's like a breath of fresh air. The system works really well and is highly flexible" - Paul Bushell
Visibility that changes how the business operates
Visibility that changes how the business operates
Visibility that changes how the business operates
Knowing the true cost of every engineer
One of the most significant changes has been the ability to see the actual hourly cost of each engineer - data that simply wasn't available in Coretime.
"The fact that we actually know the single cost rate an hour for a specific engineer is so incredibly useful for such a small bit of data - it's made a significant difference." - Paul Bushell
That visibility now directly shapes how SWP staffs projects. On jobs with tighter fees, the team can model out which engineers to assign based on cost, and adjust accordingly before the project begins.
"We now know who historically is the most expensive engineers are to put on a project, which is an incredibly helpful insight when feeing projects as it enables us to look at a job and, if it's a tight fee, look at the utilisation and go with engineers that are most cost effective and usually bring that fee in under budget and therefore in profit." - Paul Bushell
Work in progress: finally under control
Before Fresh Projects, WIP was a persistent blind spot. Hours sat unbilled on projects without anyone knowing they were there.
"The work-in-progress figure is something we have never managed to get a clear understanding of but in Fresh Projects it’s right there and easily understandable. We can now clearly see unbilled hours on projects and review if it is then billable or not. You just would never have even known they were there before." - Paul Bushell
Fee proposals grounded in real data
SWP can now model fee proposals stage by stage within Fresh Projects — balancing hours against fee across the project programme, and adjusting the split before anything goes out to a client. The platform flags when a stage is over- or under-resourced relative to the fee.
"Fresh has a twofold benefit. Because A, it will show us whether there's not enough hours in a stage based on the fee that we're going to send out, or whether we've actually got too many hours, in which case we can decrease the amount for that stage and maybe put it across another stage. We can balance it out. I'm not aware that there's anything else that actually gives you that visibility and that flexibility to actually be able to do that." - Paul Bushell
Faster reporting, fewer things missed
For Anna, the shift from manual spreadsheet reporting to instant outputs has been transformative. The invoicing process is faster, the WIP report gives a clear picture of what should be billed, and fewer things slip through the cracks.
"We are missing less. As a finance department there were things that, a few months down the line, I'd go - well, what if this and that's happening? That's happening less and less now, because it's so easy to see the time sat on those projects." - Anna Packman
The ability to lock off completed stages has also been important, preventing engineers from booking time against stages that have already been billed, and keeping the data clean for finance.
Building team confidence in the data
Embedding a new system across a 32-person business takes time. Anna is candid about that; it's been a gradual process, and one that's still ongoing.
"I think with every company when you're trying to implement change, it's hard, it's a slow process. But step by step we're heading in the right direction. People are buying into the information that's coming out of the system now." - Anna Packman
The team has also begun using LiveSheets and integrating AI tools including Claude to generate custom reports from their Fresh Projects data, something that's added another layer of time-saving for the operations team.
A platform they'd never want to lose
Asking Paul what would happen if Fresh Projects disappeared tomorrow, the answer is immediate:
"I would go as far as to say that it should not be allowed to happen. We are fully invested in Fresh Projects and its been such a benefit to us as a company." - Paul Bushell
SWP has already recommended Fresh Projects to similar businesses, with Paul taking the time to help at least one of those firms understand how to set up their projects correctly. They've since signed up.
When asked to summarise the impact in a single sentence, Anna's answer was direct:
"The impact of Fresh Projects has been massive - it's made everything more efficient, effective, and just a huge financial impact, as well as company impact to all our employees as well as management." - Anna Packman
Knowing the true cost of every engineer
One of the most significant changes has been the ability to see the actual hourly cost of each engineer - data that simply wasn't available in Coretime.
"The fact that we actually know the single cost rate an hour for a specific engineer is so incredibly useful for such a small bit of data - it's made a significant difference." - Paul Bushell
That visibility now directly shapes how SWP staffs projects. On jobs with tighter fees, the team can model out which engineers to assign based on cost, and adjust accordingly before the project begins.
"We now know who historically is the most expensive engineers are to put on a project, which is an incredibly helpful insight when feeing projects as it enables us to look at a job and, if it's a tight fee, look at the utilisation and go with engineers that are most cost effective and usually bring that fee in under budget and therefore in profit." - Paul Bushell
Work in progress: finally under control
Before Fresh Projects, WIP was a persistent blind spot. Hours sat unbilled on projects without anyone knowing they were there.
"The work-in-progress figure is something we have never managed to get a clear understanding of but in Fresh Projects it’s right there and easily understandable. We can now clearly see unbilled hours on projects and review if it is then billable or not. You just would never have even known they were there before." - Paul Bushell
Fee proposals grounded in real data
SWP can now model fee proposals stage by stage within Fresh Projects — balancing hours against fee across the project programme, and adjusting the split before anything goes out to a client. The platform flags when a stage is over- or under-resourced relative to the fee.
"Fresh has a twofold benefit. Because A, it will show us whether there's not enough hours in a stage based on the fee that we're going to send out, or whether we've actually got too many hours, in which case we can decrease the amount for that stage and maybe put it across another stage. We can balance it out. I'm not aware that there's anything else that actually gives you that visibility and that flexibility to actually be able to do that." - Paul Bushell
Faster reporting, fewer things missed
For Anna, the shift from manual spreadsheet reporting to instant outputs has been transformative. The invoicing process is faster, the WIP report gives a clear picture of what should be billed, and fewer things slip through the cracks.
"We are missing less. As a finance department there were things that, a few months down the line, I'd go - well, what if this and that's happening? That's happening less and less now, because it's so easy to see the time sat on those projects." - Anna Packman
The ability to lock off completed stages has also been important, preventing engineers from booking time against stages that have already been billed, and keeping the data clean for finance.
Building team confidence in the data
Embedding a new system across a 32-person business takes time. Anna is candid about that; it's been a gradual process, and one that's still ongoing.
"I think with every company when you're trying to implement change, it's hard, it's a slow process. But step by step we're heading in the right direction. People are buying into the information that's coming out of the system now." - Anna Packman
The team has also begun using LiveSheets and integrating AI tools including Claude to generate custom reports from their Fresh Projects data, something that's added another layer of time-saving for the operations team.
A platform they'd never want to lose
Asking Paul what would happen if Fresh Projects disappeared tomorrow, the answer is immediate:
"I would go as far as to say that it should not be allowed to happen. We are fully invested in Fresh Projects and its been such a benefit to us as a company." - Paul Bushell
SWP has already recommended Fresh Projects to similar businesses, with Paul taking the time to help at least one of those firms understand how to set up their projects correctly. They've since signed up.
When asked to summarise the impact in a single sentence, Anna's answer was direct:
"The impact of Fresh Projects has been massive - it's made everything more efficient, effective, and just a huge financial impact, as well as company impact to all our employees as well as management." - Anna Packman
Knowing the true cost of every engineer
One of the most significant changes has been the ability to see the actual hourly cost of each engineer - data that simply wasn't available in Coretime.
"The fact that we actually know the single cost rate an hour for a specific engineer is so incredibly useful for such a small bit of data - it's made a significant difference." - Paul Bushell
That visibility now directly shapes how SWP staffs projects. On jobs with tighter fees, the team can model out which engineers to assign based on cost, and adjust accordingly before the project begins.
"We now know who historically is the most expensive engineers are to put on a project, which is an incredibly helpful insight when feeing projects as it enables us to look at a job and, if it's a tight fee, look at the utilisation and go with engineers that are most cost effective and usually bring that fee in under budget and therefore in profit." - Paul Bushell
Work in progress: finally under control
Before Fresh Projects, WIP was a persistent blind spot. Hours sat unbilled on projects without anyone knowing they were there.
"The work-in-progress figure is something we have never managed to get a clear understanding of but in Fresh Projects it’s right there and easily understandable. We can now clearly see unbilled hours on projects and review if it is then billable or not. You just would never have even known they were there before." - Paul Bushell
Fee proposals grounded in real data
SWP can now model fee proposals stage by stage within Fresh Projects — balancing hours against fee across the project programme, and adjusting the split before anything goes out to a client. The platform flags when a stage is over- or under-resourced relative to the fee.
"Fresh has a twofold benefit. Because A, it will show us whether there's not enough hours in a stage based on the fee that we're going to send out, or whether we've actually got too many hours, in which case we can decrease the amount for that stage and maybe put it across another stage. We can balance it out. I'm not aware that there's anything else that actually gives you that visibility and that flexibility to actually be able to do that." - Paul Bushell
Faster reporting, fewer things missed
For Anna, the shift from manual spreadsheet reporting to instant outputs has been transformative. The invoicing process is faster, the WIP report gives a clear picture of what should be billed, and fewer things slip through the cracks.
"We are missing less. As a finance department there were things that, a few months down the line, I'd go - well, what if this and that's happening? That's happening less and less now, because it's so easy to see the time sat on those projects." - Anna Packman
The ability to lock off completed stages has also been important, preventing engineers from booking time against stages that have already been billed, and keeping the data clean for finance.
Building team confidence in the data
Embedding a new system across a 32-person business takes time. Anna is candid about that; it's been a gradual process, and one that's still ongoing.
"I think with every company when you're trying to implement change, it's hard, it's a slow process. But step by step we're heading in the right direction. People are buying into the information that's coming out of the system now." - Anna Packman
The team has also begun using LiveSheets and integrating AI tools including Claude to generate custom reports from their Fresh Projects data, something that's added another layer of time-saving for the operations team.
A platform they'd never want to lose
Asking Paul what would happen if Fresh Projects disappeared tomorrow, the answer is immediate:
"I would go as far as to say that it should not be allowed to happen. We are fully invested in Fresh Projects and its been such a benefit to us as a company." - Paul Bushell
SWP has already recommended Fresh Projects to similar businesses, with Paul taking the time to help at least one of those firms understand how to set up their projects correctly. They've since signed up.
When asked to summarise the impact in a single sentence, Anna's answer was direct:
"The impact of Fresh Projects has been massive - it's made everything more efficient, effective, and just a huge financial impact, as well as company impact to all our employees as well as management." - Anna Packman
Published:
Published:
Contributors:
Contributors:
Simon Berry, Founder
Simon Berry, Founder
"Fresh Projects has made everything more efficient, effective, and just a huge financial impact, as well as company impact to all our employees as well as management."
"Fresh Projects has made everything more efficient, effective, and just a huge financial impact, as well as company impact to all our employees as well as management."
Anna Packman - Business Operations Manager, SWP
Anna Packman - Business Operations Manager, SWP
Anna Packman - Business Operations Manager, SWP
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We Run Our Business on Referrals
Fresh Projects is a UK-based software platform designed for architects, engineers, and other built-environment professionals to manage financial aspects of their projects. It helps teams track fees, timesheets, expenses, billing, and overall profitability to keep projects on budget and profitable. The platform also centralises project data, streamlines administrative tasks, and offers mobile app support for easy access and updates.
1a Colinette Road
London
SW15 6QG
© 2026 Fresh Projects
Product
