Two specialist firms join forces to give owner-managed businesses in manufacturing and distribution the commercial leadership and operational capability they need to perform at their potential.
Odinnu, a commercial leadership partner for SME owners, has today announced a strategic partnership with Augmented Instincts, an AI-native Operating Model Partner helping SMEs scale faster, operate cleaner, and build lasting resilience.
The partnership is focused on owner-managed manufacturing and distribution businesses with a turnover of £2M to £20M – a segment that sits at the heart of the UK economy and one where the gap between ambition and capability is often most acute. These are businesses run by
capable, driven people who have built something real, but who frequently lack the senior commercial leadership and operational infrastructure to perform at their potential, push through to the next level, or prepare for a successful exit.
Odinnu: Run Better. Grow Faster. Exit Stronger.
Odinnu works inside businesses as a commercial leadership partner – deploying a team of experienced directors across Sales, Commercial, Purchasing, and Finance who embed directly into the organisation and work alongside the MD to drive commercial strategy from within.
Engagements are structured, focused, and time-bound. The goal is not to create reliance but to build genuine capability – leaving the business with stronger commercial leadership, cleaner processes, and a management team that operates independently of the owner.
It is not a recruitment firm. It does not place people and walk away. It works inside the business, intensively, for as long as the work demands, and no longer.
Odinnu’s three-stage framework – Run Better, Grow Faster, Exit Stronger – reflects the journey most owner-managers in this sector are on. The disciplines that make a business run better are the same ones that make it grow faster. And the businesses that grow well are the ones that exit strongly. The work is connected by design.
Augmented Instincts: Scale Fast. Operate Clean. Stay Resilient.
Augmented Instincts works end-to-end across the operating model, strategic capabilities and management systems to operational planning and transformation – mapping how an organisation actually runs today, then redesigning it with AI, automation, and digital capability
built in from the ground up. In manufacturing and distribution, where margins are tight, supply chains are complex, and operational efficiency is a competitive advantage, this kind of structured transformation changes what a business is capable of. The firm’s focus is on making
businesses smarter, faster, and harder to disrupt – without the chaos that poorly managed change creates.
Together: A Complete Offer for Owner-Managers in Manufacturing and Distribution
The two firms occupy distinct but tightly connected lanes. Odinnu drives commercial strategy – the revenue, the margins, the supplier relationships, the commercial engine of the business. Augmented Instincts drives operational planning – the processes, the systems, the data, and the infrastructure that make delivery possible at scale. Where Odinnu’s work builds the commercial foundations for a stronger, more independent business, Augmented Instincts ensures the operational infrastructure and intelligence can support and sustain it. For owner-managers in this sector, the combination addresses the full picture.
Richard Taberner, Founder of Odinnu, said:
“Manufacturing and distribution businesses in the £2M to £20M range are often technically excellent – the owners know their sector, know their customers, and have built something to be proud of. But senior commercial leadership is frequently either stretched thin or absent
altogether, and that creates a ceiling. The business can’t grow past the owner. It can’t run without them. And when the time comes to think about exit, a buyer looks under the bonnet and finds a business that is too dependent on one person to be worth what it should be.
What we do at Odinnu directly addresses that – experienced commercial directors working inside the business alongside the MD, on a focused basis, building the capability that allows the owner to step back with confidence. What Augmented Instincts brings on operational planning and digital capability makes the whole picture more powerful. This partnership gives owner-managers in our market something they have not really had access to before.”
Dr Thomas Gould, Co-Founder of Augmented Instincts, said:
“Manufacturing and distribution is a sector under real pressure – margins are being squeezed, supply chains are being reshaped, and AI and automation are changing what efficient operations look like. The businesses that come out ahead will be the ones that get the
fundamentals right. This partnership puts experienced commercial directors inside the business alongside the MD, and wraps structured operational infrastructure, governance and digital planning and digital capability around it. That combination is exactly what owner-managers at this level need, and it is genuinely hard to find in one place.”
The partnership will serve founder-led and owner-managed manufacturing and distribution businesses across the UK with turnover between £2M and £20M.
About Odinnu
Odinnu is a commercial leadership partner for owner-managed businesses in manufacturing and distribution. It deploys a team of experienced directors – across Sales, Commercial, Purchasing, and Finance – who work inside the business alongside the MD on a focused,
time-bound basis, driving commercial strategy from within and building the capability, independence, and commercial strength that allow the business to Run Better, Grow Faster, and Exit Stronger. Odinnu is not a recruiter. It does not create dependency. It works with businesses
turning over £2M to £20M that are ready to perform at their potential.
About Augmented Instincts
Augmented Instincts is an AI-native operating model partner built for SME leaders at a crossroads. The firm works end-to-end across the operating model, turning AI, digital, data and cyber resilience into strategic capabilities that are embedded into the heart of the business –
turning heroics-led businesses into organisations that run cleanly, scale fast, and are harder to disrupt. Founded by Dr Thomas Gould and Valentin Ackermann, Augmented Instincts is headquartered in Hereford.