Our retainers offer structured, ongoing support for clients who value regular collaboration and flexibility. The are usually contractual with services agreed in advance or through variation between the two businesses. Typical agreements run for 12–24 months and are comprised of, but not limited to:
• Incentivised hourly rates for commitments of 12 months or more.
• Flexible billing options: monthly or quarterly.
• Hours roll from month to month and remain on account unless otherwise specified to a maximum balance or time period until used. These may be used on any HUB service.
• Dedicated Account Manager.
• Monthly reporting and account analysis.
• Service level and response time commitments.
• Direct chat access via Slack or Teams (tickets must still be logged for formal support).
• Innovation Workshops
For clients who need flexibility without long-term commitments:
• Purchase hours in blocks of 10 (£75/hour) or 20 (£70/hour).
• The more you buy, the less you pay per hour.
• Hours never expire and remain on account until utilised.
For occasional support needs:
• Standard rate of £87.50/hour.
• Suited for one-off or low-frequency requests.
4-Hour Focus Model
Support tasks are capped at 4 hours per session, allowing uninterrupted focus for quality results. Tasks exceeding 4 hours are classified as project work and billed accordingly.
Task Classification and Billing
Support Tasks (≤ 4 hours): Handled promptly and billed / time logged against ticket at support rates.
Project Work (> 4 hours): Requires scoping and pre-approval, also billed at the higher project rate. Overruns may be treated as support at our discretion.
Flexible Use of Hours
Retainer and PAYG hours can be allocated to project work, with a rate multiplier applied to ensure fair costing (e.g., 1.35x for converting support hours to project hours).
Approval Process
All tasks require client approval based on a time estimate before work begins, except for critical tickets needing urgent attention.
• Minimum processing time for all requests is 15 minutes unless stated otherwise.
• Retainer and PAYG clients are prioritised during busy periods.
• All clients, regardless of support option, will receive an ‘Introduction to Support‘ document to assist with the process of requesting technical support.