Map the setup
Meeting with the team, walking the office, and gathering admin access to domains, Microsoft 365 or Workspace, the network, hosting and key suppliers. By Friday you have a written inventory of what exists and who owns it.
IT takeover review
Bring a messy business setup under control.
For small teams where the old provider, former employee or helpful friend left behind a setup nobody fully understands.
What gets reviewed
- Domain names, DNS, hosting, websites and renewal ownership.
- Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, admin roles, MFA and recovery access.
- Laptops, desktops, servers, printers, Wi-Fi, switches and cabling.
- VoIP, phone numbers, broadband, mobiles and supplier contracts.
- Backups, security software, password management and leaver risks.
What you get back
A plain-English map of the current setup, a risk list, supplier notes and a fix-first plan. If Winterhill is the right ongoing fit, that can turn into support. If not, you still have a clearer setup than before.
For example
What a typical takeover actually looks like.
Every business is different, but most takeovers follow a similar shape over the first month. This is the rough outline, your version will look like yours, not this.
Fix the riskiest things
MFA, leaver accounts, missing backups, patchy Wi-Fi, supplier contracts about to renew, anyone holding admin who should not. The painful stuff that quietly breaks first.
Document and hand back
A clear setup map, a 90-day fix-first plan with rough effort and cost, and a short briefing for the team. You then decide whether Winterhill stays on as ongoing support, or simply waves you off with a tidier setup than before.
Common questions before a first call.
Honest answers up front, in case they save you a meeting.
Is Winterhill a team or just one person?
Winterhill is founder-led, with specialist help brought in where the work calls for it (cabling, fibre installation, larger Wi-Fi rollouts). You will know who is doing what before any work starts.
How does pricing work?
Written down before the work starts. A short scoping conversation, then a fixed quote in plain English with what is included, what is not, and roughly when. No rolling lock-ins, no surprise hours, no published rate card that pretends to fit every team.
How quickly do you reply?
Working hours, normally same day. Out of hours, the next morning. There is no 24/7 desk pretending to be one; for genuinely urgent incidents we will have agreed what that means before it happens.
What if Winterhill is not the right fit?
The first conversation is free and useful either way. If the work is better placed somewhere else, that gets said plainly, often with a pointer to who would suit better.
Do you work outside Bolton, Manchester and Preston?
Across the wider North West, yes, within an honest morning’s drive: Bury, Wigan, Salford, Warrington, Chester and the Lancashire towns along the M61, M6 and M65. Outside that, remote work is fine but on-site visits have to be scheduled around the journey.
How is data handled?
Documentation lives in your tenant, owned by the business, not by Winterhill. Access we hold for support is documented, scoped and removable. Standard UK data-protection practice, written down in the engagement.