Managed IT support for Manchester businesses since 2002

Make Monday boring again. Managed IT support and cyber security for Manchester small businesses.

We give Manchester business owners back the one thing they can’t buy more of: time. Calm Mondays. Quiet inboxes. IT that just works — and a cyber baseline that lets you sleep at night.

  • 45+businesses
    supported
  • 350+users
    protected
  • 6industries
    served
  • 24yrsin
    Manchester
Book a call Get the Buyer’s Checklist

Built on SecureState™ — our 4-category IT health benchmark, reviewed every 90 days.

Why people trust us

24 years. Real businesses. Real standards.

Manchester since 2002. The numbers, the accreditations and what clients actually say — without the marketing varnish.

  • 15 minResponse time guarantee
  • 10,000+Tickets resolved
  • 24 yrsManchester MSP experience
  • 4.9 ★Across 38 client reviews
Aligned with
Microsoft Partner
ISO 27001 aligned
ISO 9001 certified
Cyber Essentials
NHS DSPT experienced
“The difference is the 15-minute thing is real. Three years with our last MSP, we'd raise a ticket and just… forget about it. With Inology, someone's on it before I've finished my coffee.”
“We switched after a phishing scare our old provider couldn't even explain. Inology did Cyber Essentials in six weeks and rebuilt our backups properly. Sleep better now.”
“What I value most is the 90-day review. Every quarter we sit down and they tell me what's coming, what's working, what isn't. Nobody's done that for us in 12 years.”
“We needed a partner who understood SRA expectations on data security, not just generic IT. Inology turned up with a checklist for our COLP, mapped what we already had, and closed the gaps. Honest, practical, no upsell theatre.”
“We’re a five-partner accountancy firm and we kept hearing ‘you need an MSP’ but no-one explained what for. Brett did. Then they did it — Sage 50, IRIS, secure document portals, the lot. Year-end ran without a single ticket.”
4.9 / 5 across 38 client reviews and renewal surveys

Sectors we work with: law firms · accountancy practices · healthcare and dental · manufacturing · distribution & wholesale · charities and non-profits.

A true story · Manchester small business · last year

Boring Mondays don't happen by accident.

It started with a normal Monday. By midday, the business was offline. They thought they were protected. They weren't.

50%

of UK small businesses were hit by a cyber attack last year. Most had no idea they were exposed.
Is yours one of them?

Most owners think they have an IT problem. They have a visibility problem.

Book a call
The three pillars + a floor

Three pillars buyers said they want — sitting on the Secure State™ floor nobody else gives you.

90% want this

Fast Response

15-minute guarantee, real engineers — not a call centre. Most issues are spotted before you call.

41% want this

Business Software Expertise

Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Teams — plus the line-of-business software your team actually uses every day.

38% want this

Manchester On Your Doorstep

Local engineers, local relationships. We can be on site across Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Lancashire and Yorkshire.

Underneath every tier

Secure State™ — the baseline floor every Inology client gets.

Policies, procedures, forms, checklists, governance and a 90-day plan. Not a 4th pillar — the foundation the other three stand on. Cyber Essentials readiness, ISO 27001 alignment and NHS DSPT prep are layered on top through our compliance tier.

Three pillars. One Secure State floor. One monthly fee.
That’s what “managed IT” should mean.

Side by side

Most MSPs sell you support. We sell you the four things buyers actually said matter.

Here's the honest, no-marketing comparison — the way a buyer would write it after running our checklist.

What you should be getting
Typical MSP
Inology IT
Response time guaranteeBuyers' #1 factor (90%)
“Same business day” — vague, no SLA
15 minutes, in writing, every ticket
Knowledge of your software2nd-most cited (41%)
Generic helpdesk — password resets and printers
Named engineers across Microsoft 365, Teams, your line-of-business apps
Local presence3rd-most cited (38%)
National brand, closest engineer 200+ miles away
Manchester-based engineers across Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Lancashire, Yorkshire
Cyber security4th-most cited (37%)
Bolted-on, charged separately, audited once
Secure State™ baked into every ticket — reviewed every 90 days
Pricing5th-most cited (30%)
Low headline, long list of “additional services”
From £55/user/month (Baseline) — everything in
RelationshipStops repeat-issue frustration (18%)
Ticket lottery, different engineer every time
Named technical lead, named account contact
Month 4 onwardsThe real test
“We'll book a check-in if anything comes up.”
90-day reviews — every client, every quarter, forever

Score your current provider in our free buyer's checklist — then send us the result for a no-pressure second opinion.

Our process

A simple, repeatable plan.

  1. 1

    Engagement & onboarding

    You sign, we get to work. We meet your team, take stock of your software, your hardware and your people — no disruption, no downtime.

  2. 2

    Initial Secure State™ audit

    We measure your current setup against the Secure State™ framework — security, backups, identity, compliance. You get a clear picture of where you stand and what needs attention.

  3. 3

    Projects to bring you up to standard

    We work through the gaps the audit surfaced — no surprise invoices, no scope creep. Each piece of work has a clear outcome and a clear close-out.

  4. 4

    Live — and the 90-day cycle begins

    Once you're at Secure State™ standard, you're live. Every 90 days we sit down with you face-to-face to review the framework, address drift, and keep you ahead of what's coming.

Start here · 60 seconds

Not sure what you'd actually pay? Find your fit.

Six honest questions about your team, your software and your compliance pressure. We'll point you at the right tier and give you a real-world number — no form, no follow-up sales call.

What it might look like
12-user Manchester firm · Plus ≈ £840/month

All-in: 12 users on the Plus tier (Cyber Essentials readiness, vulnerability scanning), Secure State™ baseline, named engineers. + £850 one-off setup.

25-user firm with on-prem server · Plus ≈ £1,845/month

25 users on Plus + a server bolt-on (£95/server/mo), Secure State™ baseline included. + £850 one-off setup.

Indicative only. Your real number depends on bolt-ons, server count and out-of-hours cover.

Save the long read for later

Already seen enough? Book a 20-minute Secure State call.

No deck. No pitch. We map your current setup against the three pillars and the Secure State™ floor — then tell you the gaps, in writing.

Book a call
  • 15-minute response promise
  • 30-day switch guarantee
  • No sales pressure
Free · 4-page PDF · No spam

The 7 questions every business should ask before signing with an IT provider.

A printable buyer's checklist built around UK research. Each question comes with why it matters, what good looks like, and the red flag to walk away from.

  • Score your current provider out of 7
  • Spot the contract red flags before you sign
  • Print it. Use it in your next IT review.

We'll never sell your details. See our privacy policy.

Brett Casterton, founder of Inology IT, smiling in a grey Inology polo shirt

Brett Casterton
Founder · Inology IT

The founder · what we believe

Veteran-founded in Manchester in 2002. Same mission, every Monday.

Brett Casterton has spent over two decades supporting business owners across Greater Manchester who built something real — only to realise, too late, that it wasn't protected.

"These are real businesses. Real livelihoods. The risk is manageable — but only if you have a framework. Without one, you're just hoping." — Brett Casterton

Good IT support runs on a clear standard — not guesswork, not "we'll get to it", not "it's probably fine". A standard for response, software depth, local presence and security. That's what every Inology client gets, every quarter, forever.

Questions · answered straight

The things people actually ask us.

No jargon. No sales pressure. If your question isn’t here, just ask us.

What does an MSP (Managed Service Provider) actually do?

A Managed Service Provider runs your IT for you, end to end. That means a fast support desk for day-to-day issues, deep knowledge of the software your business runs on, on-site engineers when you need them, plus security, backups, monitoring and strategic advice — all for a predictable monthly fee.

Inology IT is built around the four things UK businesses say they want most from an MSP: fast response, software expertise, local presence, and real cyber security.

How much does managed IT support cost for a small business in the UK?

Managed IT for a UK small business typically ranges from £50 to £120 per user per month, depending on what is included.

Inology IT’s Managed IT with Secure State™ baseline starts at £55 per user per month (Baseline tier) — fully managed IT, Secure State™ policies and procedures, 90-day reviews, all in. Plus is £70/user/mo + £850 one-off setup (adds Compliance Protect for Cyber Essentials readiness). Complete is £95/user/mo + £850 one-off setup (adds Email Protect Pro and a 24/7 SOC). Heavier compliance — PCI DSS, ISO 27001, deep GDPR alignment, NHS DSPT — is scoped as add-on consulting. Out-of-hours support is available as a bolt-on (£250/mo + £500 per 5-hour block).

What is the Secure State™ framework?

Secure State™ is Inology IT’s framework for measuring whether a business is genuinely protected. It assesses four areas where most businesses have gaps — Cyber Security, IT Strategy, Growth Readiness, and Compliance — and turns any gaps into a clear plan.

Every Inology client is reviewed against the framework every 90 days, so protection is maintained, not assumed.

How quickly will Inology IT respond when something goes wrong?

Inology IT guarantees a 15-minute response time for support requests during business hours. UK research shows 90% of buyers rank response speed as their top factor when choosing an IT company — over 2× more important than anything else — so this is the foundation of how we operate.

Most issues are picked up by our monitoring tools before users even notice, and our Manchester-based team handles tickets directly — you will not be passed through a call centre.

Is switching IT providers complicated?

Switching to Inology IT is designed to be simple. We start with a Secure State™ assessment of your current setup, agree a transition plan with your existing provider, and migrate users, security tooling and documentation in stages — usually over two to four weeks — with no downtime for your team.

Do I need Cyber Essentials, and can Inology IT help?

Cyber Essentials is the UK government-backed certification that proves your business has the basic technical controls in place to defend against common cyber attacks. It is increasingly required by clients, insurers and public sector contracts.

Inology IT prepares businesses for both Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus as part of the Secure State™ framework.

Can Inology IT support care homes and healthcare businesses?

Yes. Inology IT has deep experience with care homes, dental practices and healthcare SMEs across the North West. We support compliance with the NHS Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT), CQC expectations around digital records, and sector-specific systems such as electronic care planning and rota tools.

Where is Inology IT based and which areas do you cover?

Inology IT is based in Denton, Greater Manchester (M34 3QS) and has supported businesses across the UK since 2002. We work on-site across Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Lancashire and Yorkshire, and remotely with clients anywhere in the UK.

Got a different question? Email Brett directly — or book a Secure State call.

It’s time

Switch to the MSP your team will actually want to call.

The real cost of bad IT isn’t the bill. It’s everything that doesn’t happen while you’re waiting on a ticket — lost hours, lost momentum, lost trust in your tech. All from things that could have been answered in 15 minutes.

Book a call
  • No obligation
  • No sales pressure
  • Just clarity

Run a business. We’ll run the IT.

Not ready to speak yet? Grab the buyer’s checklist instead — it does the second opinion for you.