How much does IT support cost for a small business in Greater Manchester?

"How much should we be paying for IT support?" is one of the first questions we get from business owners across Bury, Manchester and the wider North West — and it's a fair one. The honest answer is that it depends on your size, your setup and how much risk you're carrying today. But you deserve real numbers, so this guide lays out what small business IT support actually costs in 2026, what should be included, and how to compare quotes without getting caught out.

The three ways IT support is usually priced

Most providers price one of three ways. Understanding the model matters as much as the headline figure.

1. Per-user, per-month (the modern standard)

You pay a fixed amount for each member of staff, every month, and everything is included. This is the model we and most reputable managed service providers (MSPs) recommend, because your bill is predictable and the provider is incentivised to stop problems rather than bill for them. For a Greater Manchester SME in 2026, all-in per-user pricing typically runs £30–£70 per user per month depending on how much security and management is bundled in.

2. Per-device

You pay per server, PC or laptop instead of per person. It can work for businesses with lots of shared machines, but it gets murky when people use several devices, and it doesn't naturally include the person-centred things like Microsoft 365 admin and security awareness.

3. Pay-as-you-go / break-fix

You call when something breaks and pay by the hour (often £75–£120+VAT per hour locally). It looks cheap until something goes seriously wrong. There's no proactive monitoring, no incentive to prevent issues, and costs are unpredictable exactly when you can least afford them. For anything beyond a couple of people, it's usually a false economy.

What drives the price up or down

• Headcount. More users means more to support, but per-user rates often fall a little as you grow.
• Security depth. Basic antivirus is cheap; proper managed security — EDR, MFA, backup, dark-web monitoring, staff training — costs more but is where most real risk sits.
• Servers and infrastructure. On-premise servers need more looking after than a cloud-first Microsoft 365 setup.
• Response times. Faster guaranteed response and on-site cover cost more than best-effort remote support.
• Compliance. If you need Cyber Essentials, ISO 27001 support or sector regulation, expect that to be reflected in the price.

What should always be included

Before you compare two quotes on price alone, check they include the same things. A genuine all-in managed package should cover:

• Unlimited remote helpdesk support during business hours
• Proactive monitoring and automatic patching of every device
• Endpoint security (anti-malware/EDR) on all machines
• Microsoft 365 administration — users, licences, email, Teams, SharePoint
• Backup monitoring and recovery testing
• Clear, written response-time targets (an SLA)
• Regular reviews and technology roadmapping

If a quote looks unusually cheap, it's almost always because one or more of these has been stripped out — usually security or on-site visits — and billed separately later.

Managed support vs hiring in-house

A lot of growing businesses wonder whether to hire someone instead. One competent in-house IT person costs £35,000–£50,000 a year before tools, training and holiday cover — and when they're off, so is your support. A managed contract gives you a whole team's worth of skills (helpdesk, security, networking, cloud) for a fraction of that, with cover all year round. For most SMEs under about 30 staff, managed support is both cheaper and more resilient. If you're weighing this up, our guide on whether you need managed IT support goes deeper.

What we'd expect a typical Greater Manchester SME to pay

As a rough guide for a cloud-first business with Microsoft 365, laptops and no complex servers: a 10-person firm might pay in the region of £400–£650 a month all-in; a 25-person firm perhaps £900–£1,400. Add servers, tighter SLAs or heavier compliance and it rises from there. These are ballparks — the only way to get a real figure is a short conversation about your actual setup.

How Tech Savvy Solutions prices it

We keep it simple: a clear per-user monthly price with the important things — helpdesk, monitoring, patching and core security — included, so you're not nickel-and-dimed. We're a Bury-based MSP looking after businesses right across Manchester, Bury and the North West, and we'll always tell you honestly what you do and don't need. Explore our managed IT support service, or get a no-obligation quote.