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Support retainers

Hands-on time.
Not a ticket queue.

Monthly support retainers for clients who need a web professional on call — not a chatbot, not a helpdesk portal, not three days of silence followed by a canned response. Content updates, design changes, troubleshooting, new features. Tracked fairly.

See pricingTalk to us first
15-minute increments
Work is tracked in 15-minute blocks. You pay for what's used, not rounded up to the nearest hour.
Martin handles it directly
Not a junior, not a VA, not outsourced. The person who built your site is the person who maintains it.
Same-day on Standard, 4hr on Priority
Response times are actual working practice, not aspirational. Emergencies for hosting clients jump the queue.
Separate from hosting
Hosting covers infrastructure. Support covers hands-on work. Clear separation, honest billing.
What it actually is

Real work on your
site, every month.

A support retainer isn't a vague "we're here if you need us" arrangement. It's a specific number of professional hours per month — hours that can be used for anything on your site that doesn't constitute a full project.

We tell you when you're getting close to your monthly limit. We don't let the clock run and surprise you with an invoice. If something looks like it'll take more than your retainer covers, we flag it before starting and discuss whether to treat it as additional hours or scope it as a standalone project.

Most clients on retainers have been with us for years. Devon County Council departments, Active Devon, Active Cornwall, C.R. Wood, H2O — these aren't ticket relationships. They're working partnerships where we know the sites, the content structure, the integrations, and the people who manage them.

Scope guide — retainer vs project work
Retainer work
Content updates and page edits
Design changes to existing pages
Troubleshooting and bug fixes
API and integration maintenance
New forms and simple new features
Ecommerce product changes
Performance advice and tweaks
Momentum Concierge updates
Velocity Bolt migration work
General technical advice
Quoted as projects
Full site rebuilds or redesigns
Platform migrations (Magento, WP)
New ecommerce store builds
Complex new integrations (quoted)
Brand identity projects
SEO campaigns (separate service)
Google Ads management (separate)
New Concierge deployments
Not sure which side something falls on? Just ask — we'll tell you honestly before any work starts.
Pricing

Four tiers. Pick what fits.

All prices exclude VAT. 3-month minimum on retainers, then rolling monthly.

Ad-hoc
£95
/hour
No retainer. No commitment. Billed per engagement.
Hours/monthNone
Response time2 business days
Hour rollover—
Minimum termNone
Tracking15-min increments
Get in touch
Light
£85
/month
Small sites that occasionally need a hand.
Hours/month1 hour
Response time1 business day
Hour rolloverNone
Effective rate£85/hr
Additional hours£95/hr
Minimum term3 months
Get in touch
Standard
£240
/month
Active commercial sites with regular changes.
Hours/month3 hours
Response timeSame day
Hour rollover1 hour max
Effective rate£80/hr
Additional hours£90/hr
Minimum term3 months
Get in touch
Priority
£380
/month
Ecommerce, integrations, and mission-critical sites.
Hours/month5 hours
Response time4 hours
Hour rollover2 hours max
Effective rate£76/hr
Additional hours£85/hr
Minimum term3 months
Get in touch
15-minute tracking — what it means
Work is logged in 15-minute increments against your retainer. If a task takes 20 minutes, you're charged for 30 minutes (2 × 15). If it takes 14 minutes, you're charged for 15. No rounding to the nearest hour.
You'll know when you're close to your limit
We flag when you're at ~80% of your monthly hours. If a task is going to push you over, we say so before starting — not after. You can choose to proceed at the additional hours rate, or defer to next month.
Out-of-hours and emergencies
Work outside Monday–Friday 9am–5.30pm is charged at 1.5× the standard rate. Emergency security response (site down, breach, payment failure) for Ecommerce and Professional hosting clients is handled at standard rate within emergency response times.
Worked examples

What clients typically spend.

Hosting and support are billed separately. These bundles show common combinations and total monthly cost.

All prices exclude VAT. AI monitoring powered by WebCEO and Momentum Insights. Full hosting tier details on the Velocity Bolt page →

Complete managed service
Velocity Bolt hosting

Hosting covers the infrastructure — server, SSL, backups, security monitoring, plugin updates, uptime checks. Support covers the hands-on work — changes, troubleshooting, new features, integrations. Together they're a complete managed service. Most long-term Velocity Web clients have both.

See hosting tiers →
Standard hosting + Light support
Brochure sites · Small businesses
£140/mo
Professional hosting + Standard support
Public sector · Complex WordPress
£315/mo
Ecommerce hosting + Priority support
Magento 2 · WooCommerce stores
£475/mo
Standard terms

Clear terms. No surprises.

Billing
Monthly in arrears by invoice or direct debit. Payment due within 14 days. All prices exclude VAT. Annual rate review each April — 60 days' written notice of any changes.
Contracts
Support retainers: 3-month minimum, then rolling monthly. 30 days' notice to cancel. Ad-hoc: no contract. Hosting: rolling monthly, 30 days' notice.
Emergencies vs requests
Emergencies (site down, security breach, payment failure): handled within emergency response times. Everything else (changes, features, display issues): handled within normal support response times.
Rollover hours
Standard: up to 1 hour carries to next month. Priority: up to 2 hours. Light and Ad-hoc: no rollover. Rolled hours expire if unused in the following month.
Out-of-hours work
Work outside Mon–Fri 9am–5.30pm is charged at 1.5× the standard rate for the tier. Emergency security response for Ecommerce and Professional hosting clients is at standard rate.
Scope
Hosting does not include support. Support does not include hosting. Work exceeding retainer hours billed at the additional hours rate for the tier. Large projects are scoped separately.
Questions
Answered plainly.

The questions clients most often ask before taking on a retainer.

Talk to us
Content updates, page layouts, design changes, troubleshooting, API and integration maintenance, advice, new features, ecommerce product changes, form updates, Velocity Bolt migration work, and Momentum Concierge updates. All tracked in 15-minute increments. If you're unsure whether something falls into retainer work or project work, just ask — we'll tell you before any work starts.
Full site rebuilds, platform migrations, new ecommerce store builds, complex new integrations, and brand identity projects are scoped and priced as separate projects. SEO campaigns and Google Ads management are also separate services. If a task is going to take substantially more than your monthly hours, we'll flag it and discuss before starting.
Standard retainers carry up to 1 unused hour into the following month. Priority retainers carry up to 2 hours. Light retainers don't roll over. Rolled hours expire if unused in the following month — they don't accumulate indefinitely.
Additional hours are available at your tier rate — Light/Ad-hoc £95/hr, Standard £90/hr, Priority £85/hr. If you're consistently using more than your retainer, we'd suggest reviewing the tier. Upgrading a tier is usually better value than paying for additional hours every month.
No. Hosting (Velocity Bolt) covers infrastructure: server, SSL, daily backups, plugin updates, security monitoring, uptime checks. Support covers hands-on work: changes, troubleshooting, new features. They're billed separately and can be taken independently. Emergency security response for Ecommerce and Professional hosting clients is included at standard rate within emergency response times — that's the main overlap.
Support retainers have a 3-month minimum to allow time for the relationship to settle and for us to understand your site properly. After 3 months it's rolling monthly with 30 days' notice to cancel. Ad-hoc has no minimum commitment. All rates are reviewed each April with 60 days' written notice of any changes.

Not sure which tier
is right for you?

Tell us about your site and how often it changes. We'll suggest the tier that makes sense — and tell you if ad-hoc is actually a better fit.

Start a conversationView hosting tiers