Theauthoritymachine Reviews 

I invested £14,975 earlier this year with a company run by Steve Hackney and Peter Finlay.

I was told that if I did not earn my initial investment back within 12 months, I would receive a full refund. Within weeks, the company ceased trading.

During the sales process, Steve Hackney’s sporting profile and success were repeatedly mentioned. For me, this gave credibility to the business and reassured me about trusting them with such a large amount of money.

Many months later, I am still waiting for my money and, to my knowledge, no insolvency practitioner has been appointed.

I am therefore extremely concerned to see Steve Hackney now promoting another business using what appears to be a very similar format, including similar videos, books, presentation style and sales approach.

I am also aware of numerous other people who say they have lost significant sums of money. Some, like me, placed considerable trust in the business because of Steve Hackney’s public profile and sporting success.

I have since looked at the Companies House records for the people involved and their history as company directors. What I found has only increased my concerns.

I would strongly recommend that anyone considering investing money carries out thorough checks, looks carefully at the Companies House history of those involved, and gets any promises or guarantees in writing before paying anything. In particular, do not rely solely on verbal assurances or a company-level promise: ask whether the directors are prepared to provide a personal director’s guarantee, have it independently reviewed, and ensure that all terms, repayment obligations and protections are clearly documented before committing any funds.

Everything I've said is backed by detailed documents.

Avoid Steve Hackney, and anything associated with him at all costs

I paid £14,975 to become an Adviser with Conversionize under a written licence agreement after the opportunity was sold directly to me by Steve Hackney and Peter Finlay.

The agreement included a money-back guarantee and contractual commission payments. I am still pursuing the £14,975 I’m owed back to me under that agreement, and contractual commissions also remain unpaid.

Now Steve Hackney has resurfaced with this The Authority Machine, once again promoting a business-growth proposition with strong promises and money-back guarantees.

Read the other reviews and look at the wider history of companies associated with Hackney and Finlay. I am far from the only person describing a deeply concerning experience, and the similarities reported by multiple people are difficult to ignore.

The more you look into the history, the more concerning the pattern becomes. In my opinion, it’s calculated and repeatable rather than coincidental.

£14,975 paid. Written agreement. Money-back guarantee. Contractual commissions unpaid. £14,975 still being pursued. Now Steve Hackney is promoting another remarkably similar proposition.

My advice is simple: do not get drawn in by the promises or guarantees.

Stay well away from Steve Hackney, Peter Finlay and anything associated with them.

The founder, Steve Hackney, recently ran a similar business "Conversionize" that charged £5k on a 'no results, money back' basis.

Having delivered absolutely nothing for our business (or for scores of others), the company went into liquidation days before the refund was due.

Essentially, pocketed the money, delivered nothing, no intent on refunding, liquidate the company and start a new one.

I am owed c. £13k by Finlay and Hackney via Conversionize Academy ltd which they have declared insolvent and are looking to generate a CVL. This is not their first "rodeo ". Please look them up on Companies House. You will discover 18 entries where the two of them have been joint Directors. 14 are the subject of compulsory strike off notices. 2 of them were liquidated after Hackney and Finlay took out personal loans ( £179k Academy for Growth Ltd and £240k The Core Asset limited ) . The liquidator only recovered a minimal amount of these Director loans back from them ; in both cases HMRC was also left with unpaid debts of c £150k and c£95k respectively . This is all factual and a matter of Public record. They rework and pedal old , tired ideas as the latest new thing . And under the cover of limited liability , they will make the most compelling guarantees knowing these are totally worthless when the time comes for them to declare the Company insolvent.

I was deeply disappointed by my experience with Conversionize (involving the same individuals I see associated with The Authority Machine)

I paid substantial fees upfront under a written contract that also provided for a refund if certain milestones were not met. After only an initial meeting, the company entered a winding-up/liquidation process.

Based on the timing and my experience, I formed the opinion that my payment was accepted despite the contractual commitments being unlikely to be fulfilled. I consider that conduct fraudulent.

I am particularly concerned because Companies House records show previous company appointments involving Peter James Finlay and Stephen Thomas Hackney across businesses including Practice Freedom Limited, Academy for Growth Ltd, Accountants Growth Programme Ltd, The List Converters Limited, and Rapid Results businesses. A number of these companies are recorded as dissolved.

Anyone considering The Authority Machine, or doing business with Peter Finlay or Stephen Hackney, should conduct thorough independent due diligence, review Companies House and other official records, speak with recent customers, and my advice is not to pay anything upfront.

This review reflects my personal experience as a paying customer, publicly available company information, and my own opinions based on my circumstances.

I was particularly disappointed to discover that the same individuals who operated Conversionize appear to have moved on to a new venture under a different brand. As a former customer, I would have preferred to see public accountability for customer outcomes before launching a new business. This observation is based on publicly available information and my own experience as a customer.

I engaged Conversionize after being presented with a compelling sales process that emphasized performance-based results, large-scale outreach campaigns, and a money-back guarantee. The sales presentation created the expectation that a proven lead generation system would be implemented and actively managed on our behalf.

My experience did not meet those expectations.

As a business owner, I invested significant time and money into the program based on the promises made during the sales process. Unfortunately, the outcomes did not justify that investment. The value ultimately delivered fell well short of what had been represented before the contract was signed.

What frustrated me most was the gap between the marketing claims and my actual experience as a customer. The sales process was polished and persuasive, but I did not see results that aligned with the expectations that were set.

Potential customers should perform extensive due diligence, request references from recent clients, and ensure that all performance commitments are clearly documented before making a purchasing decision.

This review reflects my personal experience as a paying customer.

I started working with Steve and his previous company, Conversionize, in early 2026. And before the full services were even rendered, I was told the company was abruptly ceasing operations, after I had already paid a $5K start up fee. I had done some due diligence previous to working with them and didn't see any problems, so this was quite a shock. Afterwards it became clear there was ill-intent, because many of the other creditors I spoke to had a similar experience, and even the appointed liquidator removed herself from representing the company because "there is an emerging narrative coming from creditors [about the company and the owners] that I would not like to be associated with professionally." That was in June that the liquidator removed herself. And since that time, Steve and his other partner Peter Finlay have failed to appoint another liquidator, leaving everyone in limbo. Many of the creditors have been reporting them to local authorities, and then come time find out that Steve has already started this other company...and that him and Peter have a history of starting companies, running them for a few years, then abruptly ceasing them and spinning up new ones.

Do not trust Steve Hackney or Peter Finlay, and don't work with them for their services.

The person behind this company has just wound up a company called Conversionize in Ireland on March 9th. They took money from my company on March 2nd when it must have been clear that they were about to cease trading. The company and its directors are now the subject of an inquiry by the Corporate Enforcement Authority in Ireland.

It turns out that there is a history here of starting similar companies and then winding them up.