How Much Does Managed IT Support Cost in the UK?

If you run a small or growing UK business, sooner or later you ask: what should we actually be paying for IT support?

Searching online doesn't help much. Some providers publish a price per user. Others say "call us for a quote". Some quotes look cheap until the extras turn up on the invoice. And if you're still paying an IT person by the hour whenever something breaks, it's hard to tell whether a monthly contract would save you money or just add a cost.

This guide answers the question in plain English. We cover:

• what drives the cost of managed IT support
• typical UK price ranges, using real examples from across the market
• what's usually included, and what usually costs extra
• how managed IT compares with pay-as-you-go (break-fix) support once you count the cost of downtime
• how we price managed IT at HGC IT Solutions, and how to get a clear figure for your business

There's no hard sell. By the end you should be able to read any IT support quote, ours or anyone else's, and know what you're getting.

The short answer

Most UK managed service providers (MSPs) charge a fixed monthly fee per user or per device. Across the providers who publish prices, a fully managed service for a small business typically comes to somewhere between £25 and £110 per user per month. Where you land in that range depends on how much security, on-site support and infrastructure management you need.

Some providers also charge separately for servers, networks and firewalls. Most charge separately for projects, hardware and certifications such as Cyber Essentials.

A low price per user isn't always the cheapest option, and a high one isn't always the best. What matters is what's included and what isn't.

What drives the cost of managed IT support?

No two businesses have the same IT, so no two quotes will match exactly. These are the main things that move the price.

1. Number of users and devices

This is the biggest factor. Most providers price per user (each member of staff, covering all their devices) or per device/workstation (each laptop or desktop being looked after).

• Per user suits teams where people use a laptop, a phone and maybe a tablet.
• Per device suits businesses with shared machines, such as a reception PC, a workshop terminal or hot desks.

Either way, more people and more devices means more to monitor, patch, secure and support. Many providers lower the per-unit price as numbers grow.

2. Servers and on-premises infrastructure

If everything runs in Microsoft 365 and the cloud, support is usually simpler and cheaper. If you have an on-site server, a NAS box, a firewall, managed switches or Wi-Fi access points, someone has to monitor, update and back those up too. Many MSPs charge a separate monthly fee per server or per site for this.

3. How much security you need

This varies more than anything else, so it's worth understanding.

A basic package might include antivirus and updates. A more complete package might add:

• endpoint detection and response (EDR), which spots and stops suspicious behaviour, not just known viruses
• email filtering to block phishing and malicious attachments
• multi-factor authentication (MFA) set up and enforced
• DNS or web filtering
• security awareness training for staff
• 24/7 security monitoring

Each layer costs the provider money in licences and staff time, so it shows up in the price. More security costs more, but a business that handles client data, takes payments or works in a supply chain can't really skip it.

4. Remote vs on-site support

Most IT problems today can be fixed remotely, quickly and without anyone having to drive to you. Remote-first support keeps costs down.

If you need engineers on site regularly, for example for scheduled visits, hardware swaps or a physical network to look after, expect to pay more, either in the monthly fee or as a per-visit charge. Ask any provider how many on-site visits are included, if any.

5. Support hours and response times

Support during business hours (for example 8:30am to 5:30pm, Monday to Friday) is the norm for small businesses. If you need extended hours, weekend cover or guaranteed fast response times, expect a higher price. Check what response times the provider actually commits to, not just what they aim for.

6. Compliance and certification

If your clients, insurers or contracts ask for Cyber Essentials, Cyber Essentials Plus, ISO 27001 or sector-specific standards, your IT has to be set up, and kept, to that standard. That means more documented configuration, more reporting and more regular checks. Some MSPs build this into a higher-tier plan. Others charge for it as a project.

7. How tidy things are to begin with

A provider taking on a well-documented, up-to-date setup has less work to do than one taking on ten years of old kit, shared passwords and unsupported software. Many providers charge a one-off onboarding fee to cover the initial clean-up, documentation and deployment of their tools. Ask about this up front.

Typical UK managed IT support prices (market examples)

To give you a realistic picture, here are published prices from a few UK providers. These are market examples only, not HGC IT Solutions' prices. They're taken from public pricing information at the time of writing (October 2026). Providers change their prices and packages, so always check the latest details with them directly.

What these ranges tell you

• The lower end (roughly £25–£45 per user) usually means a lighter package: helpdesk, monitoring and patching, with security, backup and on-site work often limited or charged extra.
• The middle (roughly £45–£75 per user) is where most "fully managed" small-business packages sit, typically including security tools, Microsoft 365 management and unlimited remote support.
• The upper end (£75–£110+ per user) tends to include more advanced security, compliance support, longer hours or more on-site time.
• Look for the infrastructure line. A per-user price that leaves out servers, firewalls and networks can look cheaper than one that includes them, when it isn't.

So for a 15-person business, a fully managed service in the middle of the market could plausibly cost £675–£1,125 a month before any infrastructure fees, projects or licences. That's an illustration based on the ranges above, not a quote.

Don't forget licences

Microsoft 365 licences are usually billed separately from the support fee, whoever your provider is. That's because the licence cost depends on which plan each person needs (for example Business Basic, Standard or Premium). A good provider will check you're on the right licence for each person, as many businesses pay for more than they use.

What's usually included and what's usually extra

The words "fully managed" mean different things to different providers. Use this as a checklist when comparing quotes.

Usually included in a monthly managed IT fee

• Helpdesk support, by phone, email and remote session (often unlimited for remote fixes)
• 24/7 proactive monitoring of devices, and sometimes servers and cloud services
• Patch management: keeping Windows, macOS and key apps up to date
• Antivirus or endpoint protection
• Microsoft 365 administration: adding and removing users, mailboxes, permissions and basic security settings
• User onboarding and offboarding (new starters and leavers)
• Asset and licence tracking
• Regular reviews of your IT and recommendations

Often included in higher tiers (check)

• Advanced endpoint detection and response (EDR)
• Email security and phishing protection
• Backup of Microsoft 365 data (email, OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams). Microsoft doesn't back this up the way most people assume.
• Security awareness training
• Network, firewall and Wi-Fi management
• A set number of on-site visits

Usually charged as extras or bolt-ons

• Cyber Essentials assessment fees. The certification body (IASME) publishes fixed assessment fees based on organisation size. At the time of writing these start at £320 + VAT for micro organisations (0–9 employees) and rise on a sliding scale to £600 + VAT for organisations with 250 or more employees. Your IT provider may charge separately for the work to get you ready. Cyber Essentials Plus involves a hands-on technical audit, is quoted individually and costs more.
• Projects: office moves, server migrations, moving to Microsoft 365, new network installs, rolling out new laptops. These are normally quoted separately.
• Hardware: laptops, desktops, firewalls, switches and Wi-Fi kit are almost always bought separately, whether from your provider or elsewhere.
• Software licences: Microsoft 365 and line-of-business apps.
• Out-of-hours work outside the agreed support window.
• On-site visits beyond any included allowance.
• Onboarding fees for initial setup and clean-up.

None of these extras are a problem in themselves. A good provider will tell you about them clearly before you sign. The problem is finding out later.

Managed IT vs break-fix: which actually costs less?

Break-fix (also called pay-as-you-go or ad hoc support) means you call someone when something goes wrong and pay by the hour or by the job. There's no monthly fee, so on paper it looks cheaper.

For some very small businesses with simple needs, it can be. But for most growing teams, the invoice for the fix is only part of the cost. (We go deeper in our guide to managed IT support vs break-fix.)

The real cost of break-fix

1. Downtime costs more than the repair. When a laptop dies, email stops or ransomware locks your files, your people can't work, but you're still paying them. You may also miss deadlines, lose sales or let clients down.

Here's a simple way to estimate your own figure:

Cost of an hour's downtime ≈ (number of staff affected × average hourly staff cost) + revenue you'd normally earn in that hour

Illustrative example only: if 10 staff cost an average of £25 an hour each and the business brings in £300 an hour, a half-day outage (4 hours) costs roughly £2,200 in lost time and revenue, before you've paid anyone to fix it.

2. Bills arrive when you least expect them. Break-fix costs spike when things go wrong, and things tend to go wrong at the worst moments. That makes budgeting hard and turns every problem into a decision about whether you can afford to fix it properly.

3. Nobody is preventing problems. A break-fix provider gets paid when things break. Nobody's job is to patch devices every week, check backups are working, or spot a failing hard drive before it fails. Small issues build up until they become big ones.

4. Security often gets missed. Without someone owning security, updates get missed, MFA doesn't get switched on and backups don't get tested. That's how most small-business cyber incidents happen. The cost of recovering from a serious one, plus the disruption, usually far outweighs years of monthly support.

5. Starting from scratch every time. A different technician who doesn't know your setup has to work it out each time, and you pay for that time.

The case for managed IT

With a managed service, the provider's incentive changes. You pay a fixed monthly fee, so it's in the provider's interest to stop things breaking. Less firefighting for them means less disruption for you.

When break-fix might still make sense

To be fair, break-fix can work if you're a sole trader or a very small team, everything you use is cloud-based, you have very little sensitive data and an occasional day of disruption wouldn't really hurt. Once you have several staff, client data, compliance requirements or a business that depends on being online, the maths usually favours a managed plan.

How to compare managed IT quotes properly

When you have two or three quotes in front of you, ask each provider:

1. Is the price per user or per device, and what exactly counts as one?
2. Is remote support unlimited, or capped?
3. What security is included as standard? (EDR, email filtering, MFA, Microsoft 365 backup?)
4. Are servers, firewalls and networks included, or charged separately?
5. Are on-site visits included? If not, what do they cost?
6. What are the support hours and committed response times?
7. Is there an onboarding fee?
8. How long is the contract, and what's the notice period?
9. What isn't covered? A good provider will answer this one straight away.
10. Can you help us achieve and keep Cyber Essentials?

Line the answers up and compare like with like. You'll often find the cheapest quote isn't the cheapest once the extras are added.

How HGC IT Solutions approaches pricing

We keep our pricing simple, because surprise bills are one of the main reasons businesses come to us.

Fixed monthly, per workstation

Our managed IT support is a fixed monthly fee, priced per workstation. You know what you'll pay each month. Your bill doesn't jump because you had a bad week with your IT. Every month is easy to budget for.

Tailored to you after a free IT review

We don't publish a one-size-fits-all price list, because a five-person accountancy practice that works entirely in Microsoft 365 needs something very different from a 30-person business with a server, two sites and a supply-chain Cyber Essentials requirement.

Instead, we start with a free, no-obligation IT review. We look at your current setup, your security, your backups and your licensing, and we tell you plainly what's working, what's at risk and where the quick wins are. Then we give you a clear, fixed-cost proposal sized to your business. No jargon, and no pressure to sign.

What sits behind the price

• A UK-based team. Real engineers who answer the phone and speak plain English. No overseas call centres, no ticket purgatory.
• Remote-first for speed. Most issues are fixed remotely, often while you wait. If you're in Dorset, we also offer on-site support across the county. Local to us? See our IT support in Dorchester, Weymouth, Poole, Bournemouth and across Dorset.
• 24/7 proactive monitoring. We catch many problems before you notice them.
• Security built in from day one. Multi-layered protection for your devices, data and email, not an afterthought.
• Microsoft Partner and Cloud Solution Provider (CSP). We license, set up, secure and manage your Microsoft 365, and make sure you're on the right licences, not paying for ones you don't need.
• Cyber Essentials specialists. We help you get certified and stay compliant. We'll tell you up front what the certification involves and what the assessment fees are.

No surprise spikes

The idea is simple. Your IT budget should be a line you set once and plan around, not something that catches you out. Where something genuinely sits outside the monthly fee, such as new hardware or a one-off project like an office move, we tell you before any work starts, in writing, so you can decide.

Ready to find out what managed IT would cost your business?

The quickest way to get a real figure is a short conversation and a look at your current setup.

Book your free IT review: no obligation, no jargon, just a clear picture of where you stand and what a fixed monthly plan would look like for you.

• Call 01305 310006
• Email [email protected]

Want to know who you'd be working with first? Meet the team behind HGC IT Solutions.

Frequently asked questions

How much does managed IT support cost per user in the UK?

Most UK providers that publish prices charge somewhere between about £25 and £110 per user per month for managed IT support. Where you sit depends on how much security, on-site support and infrastructure management is included. Some providers charge extra for servers and networks. These figures are market examples, not HGC's prices. We quote a fixed monthly fee per workstation after a free IT review.

Is managed IT support worth it for a small business?

For most businesses with more than a handful of staff, yes. A fixed monthly fee replaces unpredictable repair bills, and proactive monitoring, patching and security reduce downtime, which is usually the biggest hidden cost of IT problems. Very small, fully cloud-based teams with simple needs may manage with occasional pay-as-you-go support.

What's the difference between managed IT and break-fix support?

Break-fix means you pay each time something goes wrong. Managed IT means you pay a fixed monthly fee for a provider to monitor, maintain, secure and support your IT, aiming to stop problems before they happen. Break-fix costs are unpredictable. Managed IT costs are fixed and easy to budget for.

Does managed IT support include Cyber Essentials?

It depends on the provider. Many managed plans include the security controls Cyber Essentials needs, such as patching, firewalls, MFA and malware protection, but the assessment fee charged by the certification body is normally separate. At HGC we help you prepare for, achieve and keep Cyber Essentials, and we're clear up front about any fees involved. Learn more about Cyber Essentials.

Are Microsoft 365 licences included in the monthly fee?

Usually not. Licences are normally billed separately because the cost depends on which plan each person needs. As a Microsoft Partner and CSP, we can supply your licences and check that each person is on the right plan, so you're not paying for features nobody uses.

Do you charge for on-site visits?

Our support is remote-first, so most issues are fixed quickly without anyone needing to visit. For businesses in Dorset, we also provide on-site support across the county. We'll explain exactly how on-site work is covered in your tailored proposal, so there are no surprises.

How do I get a price for my business?

Book a free IT review by calling 01305 310006, emailing [email protected] or using our contact page. We'll look at your setup and give you a clear, fixed monthly proposal. There's no obligation.