IT support in Brighton from engineers who are actually in Brighton.
Managed IT, cyber security, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace for businesses in Brighton, Hove and across Sussex, and for businesses anywhere in the UK through our nationwide engineer network. On site when it matters, remote within minutes, and honest about what you do and do not need.
What we do for Brighton businesses
Most of our clients are small and medium-sized businesses without an IT department. We become that department: the helpdesk, the security team and the person who tells you what to buy and what to ignore.
Managed IT support
A helpdesk that answers, proactive monitoring that fixes problems before you notice them, and an engineer on site in Brighton or Hove when remote is not enough.
Learn moreCyber security
Email security, multi-factor authentication, Microsoft Defender, Cyber Essentials, and an optional 24/7 SOC through Barracuda. Security is our baseline, not an add-on.
Learn moreMicrosoft 365 and cloud
Licensing that fits, security settings that are actually switched on, migrations that do not lose a week, and Copilot rolled out to the people who will use it.
Learn moreHardware, networking and connectivity
Laptops, desktops, Wi-Fi, broadband, leased lines and business mobile, supplied and supported, at real prices on the quote.
Learn moreWhy a local IT provider still matters
Set up so you rarely need a visit
Most call-outs are the symptom of a set-up that was never finished: a server everyone depends on, a laptop that cannot be rebuilt remotely, broadband with no backup. We remove those first, and name the risks we cannot remove so you can decide whether to accept them.
Remote first, so it is fast
Nearly everything is fixed remotely within minutes of your call. Local means that the rare job which does need hands, an office move or a network install, is our own engineers a few minutes away, not that we need to be there often.
We know the area
Brighton's mix of agencies, professional services, hospitality and healthcare is what we support every day, along with the CQC, GDPR and Cyber Essentials questions that come with it.
Sectors we support in Brighton
We support businesses in most industries, usually without an IT department of their own. Each sector below has its own page, because each has its own software, regulators and risks.
Manufacturing
ERP kept running, production machines off the office network, and Cyber Essentials for the customers who ask.
Learn moreConstruction
Site cabins connected, phones and tablets managed, drawings shared properly and payment fraud designed out.
Learn moreLogistics & distribution
Warehouse Wi-Fi and scanners that work, drivers' phones managed and the transport office systems kept up.
Learn moreWholesale & retail
Stock and ERP systems, EPOS and card payments on their own network, and online store accounts locked down.
Learn moreRecruitment
Candidate data protected under UK GDPR, consultants on Teams calling, and leavers locked out on their last day.
Learn moreMotor trade
Dealer management systems, showroom and workshop networks, and customer finance documents handled securely.
Learn moreHospitality
EPOS and card terminals kept apart from guest Wi-Fi, 4G failover for the tills, and head office in Microsoft 365.
Learn moreProfessional services
Microsoft 365 as the office, client data protected, and client security questionnaires answered properly.
Learn moreAccountants
Practice and tax software that works on the first morning of January, and MFA on every account that can see client data.
Learn moreLaw firms
Case management supported, insurer cyber questions answered, and payment-diversion fraud designed out of email.
Learn moreCharities
Microsoft's nonprofit licensing claimed and used properly, and donor data protected under UK GDPR.
Learn moreSchools and colleges
The DfE cyber security and backup standards met, Cyber Essentials for colleges, and education licensing supplied.
Learn moreNot listed? We support most industries, renewables and specialist trades included. See the case studies for what that looks like in practice, or the Black Sheep Cyber page for security on its own.
How it starts
- 1Free IT Health CheckA short online check that benchmarks your security and business risk and tells you where you stand.
- 2Discovery callAn engineer, not a salesperson. We look at what you have, what is broken and what it would cost to fix.
- 3OnboardingPasswords, licences, domains, backups and monitoring move across on a plan, with no gap in cover.
Business IT support in Brighton: what is included
One monthly price per user, quoted after a short discovery call, that covers the things a small or medium-sized business actually needs. No call-out fees for remote fixes, no surprise invoices for patching.
- Unlimited helpdesk, answered by an engineer in Brighton, not a call centre
- Every laptop, desktop and server monitored and patched 24/7, with alerts raised to our helpdesk
- Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace administration and licensing
- Email security, multi-factor authentication and Microsoft Defender
- Backup of Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace and any servers, available as a separate service, with tested restores
- Single points of failure removed, or written down with a price so you can decide whether to accept them
- New starters set up and leavers closed down the same day
- A named engineer who knows your setup, and a quarterly review
Site visits are not in the monthly price. They are rare by design, and when one is needed in Brighton or Hove it is our own engineers, planned rather than panicked, charged at the rate on your quotation. The initial term is 36 months, stated on the quote, then 12-month renewals. Shorter terms are available on request. Your Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace subscription, domains and admin accounts stay in your name, with a documented handover if you leave.
Comparing IT support companies in Brighton
There are dozens of IT support companies in Brighton and Hove, and most of the websites say the same things. Five questions separate them on a call:
Who answers the phone?
Ask whether your call goes to an engineer or to a ticket queue, and what the average time to a fix is, not just time to a first reply.
Is security included or an add-on?
MFA, Defender, patching and backup should be in the base price. If they are line items, the base price is not the real price.
Who owns your admin accounts and domains?
You should. If the provider is the registrant of your domain or the only Global Administrator, leaving becomes hard.
What is the contract, and what happens at the end?
Most managed services have an initial term. Ask what it is, what it rolls into, and what you can take with you if you leave: your domains, admin accounts, licences and backups should all be yours on the way out.
How often will you need them on site?
A provider that visits every week is fixing symptoms. Ask what they would change so that you do not need them, and what happens the one time hands are needed. For a Brighton business the answer to the second part should be our own engineers, minutes away.
Our answers: an engineer, included, you, an initial term stated plainly on the quote with the handover written into our terms, and rarely, by design. The longer version is in how to choose an IT support company and how much IT support should cost.
Remote IT support for Brighton and Hove
Around nine in ten problems are fixed remotely within minutes of your call, whether you are in a North Laine studio, a Hove office or working from home in Shoreham. Being local matters for the tenth: a failed switch, an office move, a new starter who needs a laptop on their desk by Monday. We are ten minutes up Preston Road from the station, so the engineer who fixed it remotely is the one who turns up.
Our Brighton office
Black Sheep Support Limited, Telecom House, 125-135 Preston Road, Brighton BN1 6AF.
Helpdesk open Monday to Thursday 08:45 to 17:00 and Friday 08:45 to 16:00. Device monitoring and patching run 24/7 and raise alerts to the helpdesk. On-call engineering is an optional extra; speak to the team if you need it.
01273 942560 · Directions
Areas we cover
On-site support across Brighton, Hove and Sussex from our own engineers, and across the rest of the UK through our nationwide engineer network.
- Brighton
- Hove
- Kemptown
- Preston Park
- Hollingbury
- Portslade
- Shoreham-by-Sea
- Newhaven
- Peacehaven
- Lewes
- Burgess Hill
- Haywards Heath
- Worthing
- Eastbourne
- Crawley
IT support across the UK
Brighton is home, but it is not a limit. Nearly all support is delivered remotely, so a business in Manchester, Bristol or Edinburgh gets the same helpdesk, monitoring and security as one on the seafront. When someone needs to be on site, our nationwide network of engineers covers offices anywhere in the UK, booked and managed by us, so you still have one number to call. Multi-site businesses with a head office in Sussex and branches elsewhere are a common fit. Nearby, see IT support in Lewes, Burgess Hill, Worthing, Haywards Heath, Horsham, Eastbourne, Crawley and Chichester. Along the M23, see IT support in Redhill and Reigate, and every area we cover is on the locations page.
Questions Brighton businesses ask us
How much does IT support cost in Brighton?
Managed IT support is priced per user per month, so it moves with your headcount. The figure depends on how many people, devices and servers you have, the security options you choose and any specialist software. Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace licences are separate, at Microsoft's or Google's price, and projects are quoted as fixed pieces of work. We quote after a short discovery call, once we know your setup. The initial term is 36 months, stated on the quote, then 12-month renewals. Shorter terms are available on request. Your Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace subscription, domains and admin accounts stay in your name, with a documented handover if you leave.
Do we need to be in Brighton to work with you?
No. We are based in Brighton and most of our clients are in Brighton, Hove and Sussex, but the majority of support is delivered remotely and we have a nationwide network of engineers for businesses with offices elsewhere.
Can you take over from our current IT provider?
Yes. Switching is a normal part of what we do. We start with a free IT Health Check to see where you stand, then plan the handover so passwords, licences, domains and backups move without a gap in cover.
Do you help with Cyber Essentials?
Yes. We prepare businesses for Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus, and the settings it asks for (MFA, patching, device management, malware protection) are the same ones we put in place as standard.
We use Google Workspace, not Microsoft 365. Can you support us?
Yes, fully, and at the same price per user. We support Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace businesses on the same terms: 2-Step Verification enforced for every account, Drive sharing and Gmail protection set up properly with SPF, DKIM and DMARC, phones and laptops managed, and Gmail and Drive backed up outside Google. Cyber Essentials works the same on either platform, and nobody has to move; if you ever want to, a migration in either direction is quoted as a project.
Do you provide IT support in Hove?
Yes. Hove is a large part of our client base and is ten minutes from our office on Preston Road, and the set-up means Hove clients rarely need a visit at all. When one is needed, in Hove, Portslade or along the seafront, it is a short drive from our own engineers.
Do you support Macs as well as Windows?
Yes. We support Windows and macOS, and manage both alongside iPhones and Android devices through Microsoft Intune, or Google endpoint management if you run Google Workspace.
Do you cover the whole of Brighton and Hove?
Yes: the city centre and around the station, the North Laine and Kemptown, the business parks at Hollingbury, and Hove, Portslade and Shoreham. Plenty of businesses here work from home part of the week, so we set things up to work the same in the office, at home and on the train.
Do you offer 24/7 security monitoring?
Yes, in two tiers. Defender Monitoring covers your Microsoft 365 accounts and devices in office hours, quoted per user, with alerts investigated rather than forwarded. For nights and weekends, the 24/7 SOC powered by Barracuda XDR watches and investigates, and if you choose, Barracuda will phone your contacts about high-criticality incidents. Everything else is picked up by our helpdesk, which works Monday to Thursday 08:45 to 17:00 and Friday 08:45 to 16:00, with on-call engineering available as an optional extra outside the standard plan. Separately, our RMM tooling monitors and patches your devices 24/7 and raises alerts to the helpdesk. Both tiers are on the Black Sheep Cyber page.
Can you look after our phone system too?
Yes. We set up Webex Calling, native Microsoft Teams voice, or connect your existing phone service into Teams so calls ring there without changing carrier. Numbers are ported with no downtime, Dubber call recording and AI call analytics are optional, and we supply the handsets, headsets and Teams Rooms kit. Phone systems are quoted after a discovery call rather than sold off a price list.
Isn't Microsoft 365 already backed up?
Not in the way most people assume. Microsoft keeps the service running and offers retention, but retention is not backup: a deleted mailbox, a OneDrive encrypted by ransomware or a leaver's files past the retention window can be gone for good. We back up mail, OneDrive, SharePoint and Teams outside Microsoft as a separate service priced per user, with shared mailboxes and SharePoint sites included, and we test restores. The same applies on Google Workspace: we back up Gmail, Drive, Calendar and Contacts outside Google, on the same per user basis.
What size of business do you work with?
Small and medium-sized businesses in most industries: manufacturing, construction, logistics, wholesale food distribution, recruitment, car sales, restaurants and pubs, professional services and charities, usually without an in-house IT team, or with one person who would rather not be the IT team.