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Founder

Lewis Banks runs
what Wanzo sells.

Founder of Wanzo and Bloodstone Projects

He started in building surveying in 2013, moved into enterprise infrastructure and networks in 2016, and has been founding companies since 2018, including the AI consultancy Wanzo names as its partner.

Lewis Banks, founder of Wanzo

Lewis Banks runs eight businesses across AI, hospitality, property, SaaS and media. They share systems, knowledge and automated workflows. For a Wanzo client, that's the relevant fact: the founder already operates the kind of automated operation the firm then sells on a monthly retainer. Repeating work sits in workflows, the tools talk to each other, and the IT those processes sit on is managed as a live service. That's how his own companies already run, and it's the model a client then takes on.

In 2024 he founded Bloodstone Projects, an AI and automation consultancy. Wanzo names Bloodstone as its AI partner throughout this site, and that partnership isn't an arm's-length arrangement. It's the same person. He also founded Byter in 2018, a digital marketing agency for hospitality, and Red Cardinal in 2022, a UK property investment and portfolio management business. Hospitality and property are sectors he's already worked in through those companies, and they're sectors Wanzo already serves.

I run my own businesses on the same automated systems we sell to clients, so I know they work.

Lewis Banks, Founder

How he got here

  1. 2013

    Career in building surveying

    Lewis began a career in building surveying, a discipline built on precision, assessment and managing complexity. The work meant assessing how things are constructed, identifying what needs fixing, and planning how to make it better.

  2. 2016

    Enterprise infrastructure and networks

    He worked for a couple of technology companies. The work gave him exposure to enterprise infrastructure and networks, and to how technology underpins business at scale.

  3. 2018

    Founded Byter for hospitality

    He founded Byter, a digital marketing agency for the hospitality industry, because he saw venues wasting money on agencies that did not understand their world. Byter is still active.

  4. 2022

    Founded Red Cardinal

    He founded Red Cardinal, a UK property investment and portfolio management business. Red Cardinal remains active.

  5. 2023

    AI across every business

    He started integrating AI and automation across every business he runs. He treated it as a change in what a small team can build, rather than a technology demonstration.

  6. 2024

    Launched Bloodstone Projects

    He launched Bloodstone Projects, an AI and automation consultancy. The consultancy remains active.

Eight businesses on shared infrastructure

Lewis's other companies sit alongside Wanzo, across AI, hospitality, property, SaaS and media. The active ones are Bloodstone Projects, an AI and automation consultancy; Byter, digital marketing for hospitality; Red Cardinal, UK property investment; and Publisher Network, with niche publications in lifestyle, property and culture. He's also building Bytable, a restaurant management platform; LittleSpoon, for recipe discovery; and LUFU CRM, a CRM for small businesses. Stoneforms, a form builder with analytics, is in maintenance.

More on the portfolio at lewie.io.

What that means for your business

The same network ground

In 2016 he worked in enterprise infrastructure and networks at technology companies. That's the same ground as Wanzo's internet services: leased lines, SD-WAN, business VoIP and network infrastructure. A monthly retainer for those services comes from a founder who already knows the stack from the inside.

One founder on both sides

Wanzo names Bloodstone Projects as its AI partner. Lewis founded that consultancy in 2024, so the person who founded Wanzo also founded the firm behind the flagship work. There's one person accountable on both sides, not a named partner sitting somewhere else.

Sectors he's already run

He founded Byter in 2018 as a digital marketing agency for hospitality, and Red Cardinal in 2022 as a UK property investment business. Both remain active. Hospitality and property are two of the sectors Wanzo already sells into, so the founder has operated in those worlds rather than only described them.

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