IT support for builders and refurbishment contractors
Managed IT for small construction, refurbishment and fit-out firms across London and Essex. An office of a few people, a lot of sites, and a payment process that fraudsters know all about.
We support companies remotely worldwide. Site visits — in London and within the M25, further afield by arrangement.
What we usually find in a building firm
Construction IT is unusual: the office is small, the workforce is scattered, and the sums moving through email are large. That combination attracts a very specific kind of attack.
- Invoice fraud is the big one. Construction is among the most targeted sectors in the UK for business email compromise: someone watches the mailbox, waits for a real supplier or subcontractor invoice, and sends it on with different bank details. One payment can be worth more than a year of IT.
- The drawings live everywhere. Plans, specifications, site photos and O&M manuals end up split between WhatsApp, a personal cloud account and one laptop that nobody backs up.
- Sites have no fixed line. The office has broadband; the site cabin has whatever signal it can find. Getting a variation approved should not depend on someone driving to a hill.
- You hold data people care about. Subcontractor details and bank accounts, CIS and payroll records, and on domestic work, clients' home addresses, keys and alarm codes.
- People come and go. Subcontractors and temporary staff get access to email and files, and that access often outlives the job.
- Tenders now ask about your IT. Some public-sector clients and main contractors require Cyber Essentials. We help prepare the technical measures for the requirements of a specific contract.
What we look after
Day to day
- Microsoft 365 email, files and licences — one place for drawings and correspondence, reachable from a site as easily as from the office
- The computers, networks and connections your accounts and job software runs on, whether that is Xero, Sage, QuickBooks or a project system. We do not support those applications themselves; their vendors do
- Office workstations, laptops, tablets and phones, including the ones that live in vans
- Site connectivity over 4G or 5G where there is no line, and printing and scanning that works when it is needed
- Access set up quickly for new people, and removed on an agreed working day after you tell us
Where the risk sits
- We set up multi-factor authentication, access restrictions and device management where the system supports them. Any licences and limitations needed are agreed in advance. This is one of the measures against invoice fraud.
- Email filtering and impersonation controls, plus a simple internal rule for verifying changed bank details before anything is paid
- Drawings, photos and job files in one controlled place, backed up and searchable, not scattered across personal phones
- Device management and encryption where supported, and remote wipe on supported managed devices when one goes missing from a van
- Backups kept apart from the live system. We monitor that backups run. Restore testing is part of the With servers plan; otherwise it is agreed separately.
- The technical requirements of Cyber Essentials put in place properly, if certification would open up work for you
We agree the scope of service in the proposal. Equipment, connectivity, licences (for example for antivirus, email security and backup software), site visits and project work are charged separately.
Practical advice for staff on suspicious emails, attachments and payment requests is part of the service. Separate training sessions are agreed in advance and charged separately.
Worth saying plainly
We are responsible for the agreed IT services and help you prepare evidence of the technical security measures. This does not replace a legal compliance assessment or industry certification.
We do not run your CDM paperwork, your health and safety file or your tender submissions. If you decide to go for Cyber Essentials, we prepare the technology side and tell you honestly what still needs doing on the policy side.
Start with an honest look at your setup
Our free IT health check reviews what you have and returns a written summary — what is solid and what is exposed. No obligation afterwards. We agree the scope of the check in advance.
On a 12-month agreement: £50 per user per month without your own servers, or £75 with servers. The minimum is £300 a month. Month-to-month service and full terms are on the pricing page.
If your office is three people, a monthly contract may be more than you need — one-off remote support is available during support hours: £45 for 30 minutes or £85 for an hour.