A managed service provider (MSP) in London typically charges £40–£110 per user per month to run your IT, security and support, usually on a 12–36 month contract with a response-time service level agreement (SLA). The right provider depends less on headline price than on what sits inside that figure — cyber security, Microsoft 365, projects and how quickly a human actually responds.
How London MSPs price: per-user, per-device and tiered
Most London providers price one of three ways. Per-user is now the common model: you pay a flat monthly fee for each member of staff, covering their laptop, phone, mailbox and support. Expect roughly £40–£110 per user per month depending on what's bundled. The thinner end covers helpdesk and patching; the thorough end adds endpoint security, managed backup, Microsoft 365 licensing and security monitoring.
Per-device pricing charges by machine — servers, workstations, firewalls — which can suit businesses with shared kit or lots of non-user devices. It gets awkward when one person uses three devices, so read the count carefully. Tiered or 'packaged' pricing (bronze/silver/gold) bundles everything into bands; it's simple to compare on paper but can hide whether, say, cyber security or project work is genuinely included.
The figure that matters is cost per user all-in. Ask any provider to convert their quote into a monthly per-user number with a line-by-line list of what's in and out. A £45 quote and an £85 quote often do very different jobs. Our managed IT support pricing is built per user so the all-in cost is visible from the start.
Watch for licences billed separately. Microsoft 365, EDR and backup licences are sometimes quoted outside the per-user fee, which makes the headline look lower than the real monthly spend.
Response times and SLAs compared — what '4-minute response' means
Nearly every London provider advertises a service level agreement, but the promises aren't comparable until you read the definitions. 'Response time' can mean an automated ticket acknowledgement, a first human reply, or the start of actual work. These are very different things.
When we quote a 4-minute average first response, we mean a real person engaging with the ticket — not an auto-reply. That distinction is the single most useful question to ask any shortlisted MSP: does your SLA clock measure an email bot, or someone who can actually fix the problem?
Beyond first response, look at resolution targets and how they vary by priority. A 'P1' (business-down) issue should carry a tighter target than a password reset. Also check coverage hours. '24/7' support sometimes means security monitoring only, with the helpdesk running 8am–6pm. If your team works evenings or weekends, confirm what's staffed.
- First response: is it a bot acknowledgement or a human?
- Priority levels: are P1/P2/P3 targets defined in writing?
- Resolution vs response: are both measured, or only the easy one?
- Coverage hours: is the helpdesk 24/7, or just monitoring?
- Reporting: do you get monthly SLA performance figures?
Contract length, exit terms and hidden charges
London MSP contracts usually run 12, 24 or 36 months. Longer terms often buy a lower per-user rate, but they only make sense if the exit terms are reasonable. The clauses to read before signing are notice period, data return and offboarding fees.
Notice periods of 90 days are common; some run to six months. Check whether the contract auto-renews and on what notice — rolling renewals that you can't easily exit are a frequent source of friction. Ask directly: if we leave, how do we get our data, documentation and admin credentials back, and is there a charge for it?
Hidden charges tend to cluster around onboarding, project work and 'out of scope' tickets. A fair agreement defines scope clearly and prices project work (migrations, office moves, new sites) separately and transparently, rather than drip-feeding charges. If you occasionally need extra hands rather than a full outsource, a co-managed IT support arrangement can sit alongside your internal team without duplicating cost.
What's actually included: helpdesk, security, M365 and projects
The biggest differences between London providers show up in what the monthly fee covers beyond the helpdesk. Patching, monitoring and user support are table stakes. Cyber security is where quotes diverge sharply.
A thorough package includes endpoint detection and response (EDR), managed backup, email security and multi-factor authentication (MFA) as standard. A thinner one treats these as paid add-ons. Given that most incidents now start with email or stolen credentials, check whether email security and identity protection are in the base price or bolted on later.
Microsoft 365 support should cover day-to-day admin, licensing guidance and user changes. Larger pieces — a Microsoft 365 migration, a SharePoint rebuild or a new phone system — are usually project work. That's reasonable, provided projects are scoped and quoted openly rather than billed as surprise time.
Should the MSP handle connectivity and phones too?
Many London businesses split IT support, internet connectivity and telephony across three suppliers. That works until something breaks and each blames the others. Consolidating with one accountable provider removes that finger-pointing — you get one number to call when the line, the firewall or the laptop is the problem.
If you're reviewing an MSP, it's worth asking whether they also deliver leased lines, SD-WAN and telephony. A provider that runs the network and the support together can usually diagnose faults faster, because they can see both sides. For multi-site firms, this matters most.
This isn't essential for every business — a smaller single-site office may be perfectly well served by an IT-only MSP plus a separate ISP. But as you grow past a couple of sites, single accountability starts to save real time and argument.
How to shortlist an MSP once you're past 20 staff
At around 20 staff, ad-hoc IT support stops scaling and the case for a proper MSP becomes clear. The shortlisting process is more about diligence than marketing claims. Start by asking each provider for a per-user all-in quote, a sample SLA with defined priorities, and a written list of what's in and out of scope.
Then test the intangibles. Ask who you'll actually deal with day to day, whether you get a named account contact or technical lead, and how onboarding works in the first 30 days. A good MSP documents your environment early; a weaker one learns it reactively when things break. Ask to speak to a reference client of similar size.
Finally, weigh security maturity. Providers supporting Cyber Essentials certification, running managed detection and response (MDR) and able to show how they'd handle a breach are operating at the thorough end. If you're in London specifically, local IT support in London with genuine on-site capability matters when hardware, cabling or office moves are involved — not everything can be fixed remotely.
- Get an all-in per-user quote with in/out-of-scope in writing
- Read the SLA definitions, not just the headline numbers
- Confirm notice period, auto-renewal and data-return terms
- Ask who your named contact and technical lead will be
- Check security inclusions: EDR, MDR, backup, MFA
- Request a reference client of similar size and sector