Solve Studio
Opportunity Agent

TUPE Transfer Desk

Agentic UK TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment) information and consultation letter pack, employee liability information schedule, and post-transfer harmonisation risk memo service for small businesses (1–50 staff) buying, selling, or outsourcing a service contract where TUPE applies. Replaces the employment solicitor who charges £1,500–£4,000 to draft the 28-day employee liability information disclosure, produce the individual 'measures' letters, and advise on the 90-day collective consultation trigger — a process where a single procedural failure exposes the incoming employer to uncapped employment tribunal liability.

Why now

No fresh signal available today; justified by persistent Reddit r/smallbusiness and r/legaladvice volume on TUPE confusion during contract handovers, and ACAS reporting TUPE as one of the top five employment law queries from SMEs. The Employment Rights Bill 2024–25 (currently in Lords) is tightening collective consultation thresholds, making TUPE compliance newly urgent for small employers.

Commercial value

UK SMEs involved in business sales, outsourcing, and contract retendering number in the tens of thousands annually. Employment solicitors charge £1,500–£4,000 per TUPE event; target ACV £600–£1,200/event or £150–£300/mo subscription for repeat outsourcers (cleaning, catering, FM contractors). Budget line: 'employment solicitor / HR consultant fees.' TAM intuition: ~40,000 TUPE-triggering events per year in UK SME sector.

Go-to-market

Target UK FM, cleaning, catering, and security subcontractors via LinkedIn and trade bodies (BSCAI, CSSA). Hook: 'Your TUPE pack in 48 hours for £299 — or pay a solicitor £2,000.' First 10 customers via cold outreach to contract managers at companies advertising service contract wins on Contracts Finder. Price: £299 per TUPE event or £199/mo for repeat contractors.

2-week MVP

A single-page intake form (business name, number of transferring employees, transfer date, any 'measures' planned) feeding a GPT-4o prompt chain that outputs: (1) employee liability information schedule, (2) individual employee notification letters, (3) a one-page risk memo flagging collective consultation triggers. No portal, no dashboard — deliver as a branded PDF via email within 24 hours. Cut: ongoing monitoring, tribunal representation, harmonisation modelling. Day-1 outcome: a small cleaning contractor winning a new site contract receives a legally-structured TUPE pack they would otherwise have paid a solicitor £1,500 to produce.

Agent score

0.59 — Commercial score reflects a real, named solicitor budget line and high event frequency in UK SMEs, but individual events are episodic so subscription conversion is harder — capped at 0.78. Speed score is high because the MVP is a prompt chain plus PDF delivery with zero infrastructure; first 10 customers reachable via LinkedIn to FM contract managers within days — 0.88. Defensibility is weak at 0.38: no proprietary data, any competitor can replicate the prompt; moat only builds if workflow lock-in via repeat contractor subscriptions is achieved.

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Solve Studio is an independent AI automation and product studio founded by James Pates, working out of Brighton and London with clients across the UK. Get in touch at james@solve-studio.co.