IT Support for Startups and New Businesses

Get the foundations right first

It costs very little to set up IT properly when you have three people and a lot to fix it when you have thirty. The most common startup problem we see is ownership: the domain registered to a founder's personal email, the Microsoft 365 tenant created by a freelancer who has since disappeared, or the only admin account protected by a phone number that no longer works.

We put everything in the company's name: the domain registrar account, DNS, the Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace tenant and break-glass admin accounts with recovery details stored safely. Hosting and domains can sit with our sister company at dijitul DNS or wherever suits you. Companies House now requires directors and people with significant control to verify their identity, a rule that began on 18 November 2025, so it is a good moment to tidy up who controls what across the business.

Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace

Both work well for startups. Microsoft 365 suits teams who live in Word, Excel and Teams, and its Business Premium licence adds Intune device management and Defender for Business. Google Workspace suits browser-first teams and works well with Chromebooks and Macs. We set up whichever you choose with sensible defaults: MFA enforced, legacy sign-in blocked, external sharing controlled and one admin per job rather than everyone as an admin.

If you are still deciding, read our Microsoft 365 vs Google Workspace comparison.

Email that reaches prospects

New domains have no sending reputation, so cold sales emails often land in spam. We configure SPF, DKIM and DMARC on day one, keep marketing and sales tools sending from properly authenticated subdomains, and warm up new sending addresses gradually. Google and Yahoo have required DMARC from bulk senders since February 2024, and smaller senders benefit from the same set-up. See email deliverability.

Use a separate subdomain, such as mail.yourcompany.co.uk, for high-volume outreach or marketing tools, so that if a campaign damages its reputation, your founders' everyday mailboxes keep delivering to investors and customers.

Laptops, SaaS and leavers

Startups often let staff use their own laptops. That is fine for a while, but company data ends up scattered and cannot be removed when someone leaves. We enrol company laptops, Windows or Mac, in device management so they are encrypted, updated and can be wiped. For personal devices, we use app protection so company data stays in company apps.

We also keep a list of every SaaS tool, from Slack and HubSpot to GitHub and Xero, with single sign-on where possible, so a leaver loses everything with one switch. According to the UK Government's Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025/2026, only 47% of UK businesses use two-factor authentication, so turning it on everywhere already puts you ahead.

Security questionnaires and Cyber Essentials

The first enterprise or public sector customer usually brings a security questionnaire, and many ask for Cyber Essentials. Its five controls are firewalls, secure configuration, user access control, malware protection and security update management. If you set up IT properly from the start, you are most of the way there already.

We answer the technical questions in customer questionnaires, fix the gaps and prepare you for Cyber Essentials assessment by an independent certification body. See Cyber Essentials readiness.

Plans and prices for startups

Many startups begin with a few hours of ad-hoc set-up at £45 an hour + VAT, then move onto a plan. Essential at £25 a month + VAT covers website updates, backups and monitoring. Business at £50 a month + VAT adds an hour of changes and priority support. Complete at £99 a month + VAT adds 3 hours a month and an IT and Microsoft 365 helpdesk for your team, useful once you are hiring. See pricing.

What it costs

Support plans from £25 a month + VAT, or £45 an hour + VAT for one-off fixes. Pick a plan if you want it looked after every month, or pay by the hour for a one-off job.

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